Avalonians at Hinata-sō
by Pyeknu
Summary: Prequel to "Phoenix From the Ashes." When the Avalonians were liberated, a group then living in Hinata seek a place to live at the Hinata-sō, befriending Keitarō. In doing so, they give him a new sense of family…which radically changes the lives of all there. Especially when one becomes his sister and another his fiancée. Keitarō/OC, girls/OCs, no promise girl quest.
1. Avalon Comes to Hinata

Hinata (west of Yokosuka), the Hinata-sō, Saturday 15 July 1995, mid-afternoon…

"Keitarō-chan! Make sure all the boxes are put away!"

"Hai!"

With that, the studious-looking brown-haired boy with the grey eyes behind reading glasses moved to shift the small boxes of old toys into the storage room of the hot springs hotel located near the Sagami Sea coast of the Miura Peninsula, across the slopes of Ōgusu-yama from the great seaport of Yokosuka. He was quite mature for his age, which impressed his parents and other relatives very much. Atop that, he was a very friendly boy, always willing to play with other children who came to the Hinata-sō to stay. He had already made a nice friend in a girl from Okinawa; in fact, they had become such good friends that his mother and grandmother now joked that Otohime Mutsumi might actually make a good wife for him one day. Hearing that sort of talk always made Urashima Keitarō blush. Honestly! Why did adults always care about…?

_KK-KLACK!_

He jerked on hearing that sound, and then looked around the box he was carrying to see an ornate katana having fallen on the floor nearby, no doubt from atop a nearby stack of boxes that Keitarō accidentally bumped into. Blinking a couple times as he tried to recall what on Earth was such a beautiful sword doing in the storage room of his family villa, he then nodded as he put the box aside. He had seen this sword a couple times before. Mentioning that to his grandma Hina always got him scolded; from what the five year-old Keitarō could understand of the older woman's stern words, there was something _very_ bad inside the sword…and that if it ever got out, a lot of people could be hurt.

But that didn't make sense to him.

After all, it was only a _sword_!

What could a sword do to anything without a samurai or ninja to hold it?

Putting all the boxes away as he had been told, Keitarō then moved to pick up the sword and put it back where he knew it had been before. Pausing to note that the sheathed weapon had collected some dirt and dust on its black scabbard, he reached into his trouser pocket to pull out a cleaning rag, then he moved to pick up the sword to wipe it down…

_**Ayah! Who's the nice boy that's cleaning me?!**_

Keitarō gasped as the sword in his hand began to glow with a strange purple fire…which didn't hurt him whatsoever. "A GHOST!"

_**No, silly boy! I'm not a ghost! I'm a tokkaebi!**_

Silence.

"What's a 'to-ka-bi?'" he asked, trying to pronounced the very odd syllables.

_**No, Keitarō-ya, 'tokkaebi,'**_ that voice gently chided. **_You would know someone like myself as a tsukumogami. I am T'aeja._**

He blinked. He knew about tsukumogami. They were divine spirits that were born within normal objects such as umbrellas and lanterns that had existed for over a hundred years and had become truly alive because of their great age. And while he personally didn't know any sort of tsukumogami that could be born inside a _sword_ of all things, there shouldn't be any reason that such a being could be born of a samurai's primary weapon.

Still…

Placing the sword on the floor, he then sat seiza before prostrating himself before it. "I'm very honoured to meet you, Obā-sama," he ritually declared.

An embarrassed sputter escaped the glowing blade. _**You're c-c-calling me 'G-g-grandmother?!'**_ T'aeja moaned as if she — the voice sounded female, so Keitarō automatically assumed this particular tsukumogami was a girl — was about to cry.

He giggled in embarrassment. "Well, it wouldn't be right to call you 'Onē-chan' or 'Oba-chan.' You're older than that…!" He then gargled as he waved his hands as if to ward off a curse. "Sorry! Sorry!"

Musical laughter responded. **_My! You're a respectful one as well as a kind one!_** T'aeja teased before she breathed out. _**Don't worry about it, Keitarō-ya. What is age to a being like me? I first came alive within a fireplace poker my owner liked very much when he lived within the ramparts of what would become Namhansan-sŏng overlooking beautiful Hansŏng. That was in the decades before the Imjin War in what you know of as the year 1592.**_

He gasped. _Fifteen-ninety-two?!_ That made T'aeja WAY older than even his own grandma!

_**Don't worry about it, Keitarō-ya**_, T'aeja then gently scolded. _**Here, finish cleaning me, then put me on the rack to your right.**_

He blinked before nodding, and then reached for the sword…

* * *

Urashima Keitarō would never speak of his many conversations with the spirit of what he would later learn was known to the members of his family as the _**Yōkatana Hinata**_.

But deep in his heart, he would never think ill of his "invisible big sister" T'aeja.

And — for the utter life of them all — his relatives would _never_ understand why was it that Keitarō always excelled in Korean language studies in school…

* * *

_**Avalonians at Hinata-sō**_  
by Fred Herriot  
A side story to _Phoenix From the Ashes_

Proofreading done by Rose1948 and Rashaan Butler

Based on _Love Hina_, created by Akamatsu Ken; _Ikkitōsen_, created by Shiozaki Yūji; and _Urusei Yatsura_, created by Takahashi Rumiko.

Also including characters and situations from _Mahō Sensei Negima_, created by Akamatsu Ken; _Koihime Musō_, created by BaseSon; _Men In Black_, created by Lowell Cunningham; _Yumemiru Shōjo_, created by Fūga; _Sanctuary_, created by Fumimura Shō and Ikegami Ryōichi; _Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter_, created by Seth Grahame-Smith; _Kita-e_, created by Hudson Soft; _Kōtetsu Tenshi Kurumi_, created by Kaishaku (Ōta Hitoshi and Shichinohe Terumasa); _Crying Freeman_, created by Koike Kazuo and Ikegami Ryōichi; _Harry Potter_, created by Joanna K. Rowling; _Noir_, created by Tsukimura Ryōe and Mashimo Kōichi; _Kan_, created by Urushihara Satoshi; _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_, created by Joss Whedon; and _Aqua Bless_ and _Tayu Tayu_, created by Yamatogawa.

_Phoenix From the Ashes_ was derived from the fanfic _The Bet: Crippled_, written by Gregg Sharp. This story also contains characters and situations from the fanfic series _Urusei Yatsura - The Senior Year_, created by Mike Smith and Fred Herriot.

* * *

**WRITER'S INTRODUCTION**

_This is a prequel side story to_ Phoenix From the Ashes_, effectively showing what happened elsewhere on Earth during the events of the Liberation of the Avalonians; in the timeline of the series, this occurred a little over four months prior to the start of_ PFtA_. This story crosses over with the universe of_ Love Hina_; in the timeline of that series, this story is set around the start of Volume Four (manga episode #25). _

_Of course, given the rather interesting relationship dynamics that rule the lives of the residents of the Hinata-sō, it's quite easy for a melodramatic writer like me — with my past problems concerning child abuse and how that influences my reactions concerning tsundere characters — to fall into the "let's bash all the girls of the Hinata-sō" approach some other writers have taken in their stories. In many ways — even more so than in_ Ranma 1/2 _fanfic stories — it's quite easy to depict people such as Narusegawa Naru and Aoyama Motoko as vicious brutes without any redeeming qualities. However, they do have such qualities…not to mention deep fears that drive their actions; I often feel that people who depict Naru as an abusive monster tend to forget that sort of thing. Also, in reflecting on the circumstances that brought Urashima Keitarō to the Hinata-sō at the start of the manga, there are questions I've wanted to ask about the whole background situation that led to his meeting the girls of the Hinata-sō in the way he did. I intend to explore those questions in this story. _

_Atop that, I intend to explore my theories concerning the_ Yōkatana Hinata _— known more commonly in English as "Hina, the Cursed Blade" — and how it came into being. This will also involve the weapon's appearance in_ Negima _and bring in guest stars from that story…not to mention a character of mine who appears in the _PFtA_ side story_ Wizards and Avalonians _and is mentioned in my_ Icemaidens _series of_ Harry Potter _stories. Note that reading all of those stories isn't necessary to understand the events here though I would recommend reading_ Phoenix From the Ashes _and the writer's notes contained within to better understand some of the background elements of this story. _

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Hinata, near the Hinata-sō, Wednesday 17 February 2010, after nightfall…

"The Army of Lum…destroyed?!"

The senior Niphentaxian observer of the group based in the spa town close to Yokosuka shakily nodded. "Yes!" he hissed out. "Somehow, the Dragonspeaker mustered an army of warriors — not to mention her thrice be-damned dragon friends — to attack Phentax Twelve to liberate the Avalonians!" As the dozen other people in the room gasped in horror on hearing _**that**_ — all of them knew how vital the bioroid slaves were to the economy of the Union of Phentax Two — he added, "They were joined in the attack by the Yehisrites; we all know how _they_ feel about any form of slavery!" As the others winced — the Yehisrites had long earned their reputation as the most fearsome warriors in the local cluster; to face THEM in a battle was to face beings who took JOY in combat of any sort! — the leader finished, "The Arch-Heretic himself was able to destroy the controls that kept those damned robots enslaved to us! Millions are dead, killed by their own servants! Phentax Twelve is also gone, all its colonists killed to the last." A shake of the head. "What's worse, without the Army of Lum, there's no way that the squadron coming here will be able to seize and hold Earth for the long term to make the Great Evil renounce his dark works concerning the Goddess and those of Her Holy Company from beyond this world…!"

Listening to the passionate tirade his leader was spewing, a sandy-haired man of about twenty-five tried not to shake his head. While he truly believed in the One True Faith and the words passed down to him ultimately from those of his race who lived in and around the Holy City of Tomobiki to learn the sacred words of the Holy Apostles and Holy Company that went into the _Book of Lum_, there was a small part of him that revelled in acts that could see him instantly declared a heretic by the authorities of the Church of Lum. That rebellious part of Tarash dai-Joranth centred on the beautiful female bioroids whose birthplace — a giant bioroid factory buried in the crust of Phentax Twelve fourteen millennia before — was discovered by the "Arch-Heretic," Ganzo dai-Louc, when he led a geological survey on that world a century ago. Unlike the others in Tarash's group — and unlike the vast majority of his people — he saw the Avalonians not as "robots" no different than androids constructed by the Niphentaxians' allies on Zeiwan. No, he actually saw them as real, living people no different than he. Yes, they weren't born by natural means, but they certainly expressed the full gamut of human emotions…and even more so, unlike the people they had been literally enslaved to thanks to some of Ganzo's friends, they could do that **_one_** arcane thing no Niphentaxian — at least in known recent history — could ever do.

They could _**create**_.

It had taken Tarash's breath away when his own "sister" — who had been created from a sample of his own DNA, though modified to make her Terran-form and not Niphentaxian-form so she could better fit in amongst the people of Earth — had shown an incredible propensity for designing and modifying her own motorcycles. Like he, the woman known to her friends in Hinata City as Mizote Toshiko had a great passion for riding the sleek two-wheeled machines, even going so far as to win unofficial drag races whenever other motorcycle enthusiasts came to town to challenge her. And while Tarash's co-workers often rode his case to make Toshiko not make a spectacle of herself, he always countered that with the argument that by allowing her to act as human as she wanted, she would better earn the trust and acceptance of her Terran friends, thus allowing the Niphentaxians in Hinata to get more detailed observation data from her and the seventy-seven other Terran-form Avalonians assigned as assistant cultural observers to their group. Other observation groups scattered across Earth which had Avalonian assistants helping them had also gained greater insights into the diverse cultures of this world by letting the bioroids interact with their Terran friends as freely as possible within reason, which benefited the people of Phentax Two immensely despite the current allegiance all nominally had to the One True Faith and the belief that Redet Lum of the planet Uru was the Living Goddess.

But now…

"So what do we do, Karan?" the lone female observer in the group demanded. "Has there been any sign of the Great Evil? Is _he_ involved in all this?! What have our friends in and around the Holy City reported about what happened after the Holy Apostles and the Holy Company were brought back here from Uru after the New Year by the Black-Haired Bandit Slayer and her adopted sister?"

The leader, Karan sudai-Karona, sighed. "That, I can't answer, Jelina. After the incident at the Onishuto Cathedral provoked by the Dragonspeaker and her dragon friend, all communications between the observers in the Holy City and the Homeworld were funnelled directly to the President's office. Try as I might — to say anything of my counterparts across Earth — we can't get any information concerning what really happened from the Holy Writings. As you all know, there hasn't been updates to the _Book of Lum_ since that incident." Which was a VERY scary thought to Karan. Without any new words from the Holy Apostles and Holy Company — even the Sinful Doubters! — how could the One True Faith maintain its relevance to the Faithful? "That means…!"

Everyone then jolted on sensing a slight, sharp tremor rip through the floor under their feet. Instantly, safety drills when it came to the most common environmental living hazard in Japan clicked in; the observers slipped out of the small townhouse Karan owned and shared with a dozen Avalonian assistants. Once they were on the street, they looked around for a moment, noting that the tremor had stopped. As silence fell, people then relaxed. "Minor quake," Tarash quickly concluded.

"What's THAT?!" Jelina dai-Goranda then screamed out.

Everyone stared at her, then — on noting where she was pointing — they looked north. "What in the Goddess' Name…?!" Karan exclaimed on seeing a brilliant bolt of energy rocket into the sky from somewhere beyond the ridge of low mountains that formed the spine of the Miura Peninsula. "The Terrans don't have any energy weapons…!"

Another sharp rumble rocked the ground, which staggering many of the Niphentaxians…not to mention nearby bystanders. As Karan dropped to his knees to ensure he didn't get knocked onto his ass, his cell phone rang. "Yes?!" he answered it.

"It's me!"

Karan gaped. "Hoss?!"

"Yes! Get your people prepared to evacuate your post!" Hoss bedai-Diyasbugh — the senior observer assigned to the Holy City itself — declared. "The Final Solution has been stolen from us! It's been sent into space, right into the middle of the Liberation Squadron! That blast of energy emitting from the Tarōzakura Hill…!"

At that moment, an explosion of blinding light and energy somewhere in space close to Earth turned the twilight of Hinata to brightest noon!

As people around them screamed out at such a sight — much less crouching on the ground as they tried to rub their eyes and restore their vision — a wide-eyed Tarash felt a cold grip of terror seize his heart. He knew — as did his fellow observers — that a squadron of a dozen Kashin-class battlewagons, twice the number of Tsubasa-class destroyers and a full support group was deploying from the Phentax system to seize Earth in a way of forcing the Great Evil to recant his dark words three days ago declaring that Paragraph Ten of the Tag Race Treaty between the United Nations of Earth and the United Tribes of Uru was now in effect concerning all citizens of Uru for the next two hundred years. That particular clause — which gave Moroboshi Ataru the lone right to declare any citizen of Uru _persona non grata_ if he felt such a person to be a threat to Earth, thus having that person effectively forbidden from visiting or living on Earth — had never been revealed to him; no doubt, this was to ensure the Great Evil could not do anything directly against the Goddess. However, given that he had been the guest of the Noukiites for the last two months, there was utterly no doubt that Moroboshi DID know of that clause and was now using it to hurt the Urusians in a way they would never recover from. Given that he was being helped by members of a race that didn't care at all for the Urusians as a people, that action would cause untold damage to Uru.

Not to mention Phentax Two.

To counter such a possibility, the "Final Solution" — a hideous name in Tarash's eyes given what had happened to the descendants of Israel during the Second World War — was devised as a last-ditch effort to keep the Great Evil at bay should he actually find some way to bring the Goddess to heel. The Final Solution — an anti-matter bomb with an equivalent explosive yield of five hundred megatons of trinitrotoluene — had been secretly buried in the shopping district of the Holy City two months after the Goddess' Migration to Earth. With Hoss being given the undisputed right to control when to use it, the bomb was intended to help the Niphentaxians take all of Earth hostage in case the Great Evil somehow totally defeated the Goddess and was moving to destroy the Holy Apostles and Holy Company, thus eradicating the foundations of the One True Faith forever. It had been a controversial decision to deploy such a device to Earth; while the needs of nearly fifteen billion of the Faithful was always prominent in the President's mind, the idea of unleashing NUCLEAR WINTER on Earth — the detonation of such a bomb would turn the whole Kantō basin of Japan into a radioactive bay of the Pacific Ocean, not to mention effectively render the island nation lifeless from side effects like earthquakes and volcanoes as the planet's crust was cracked open by such a huge explosion — would make any feeling being wince in horror. Yes, Moroboshi WAS the Great Evil…

But now…

Now…

"The squadron…?" Jelina croaked out.

Karan feebly nodded. As the other observers all seemed to collapse on themselves as the full weight of what was now happening to their countrymen slammed down on their shoulders, Tarash blinked as he then stood up, walking back towards his own residence. The shock of the moment was so great to the others that none reacted to his heading off. As he hurried back home, Tarash ignored the mutterings from people around him as they stared into the evening sky, watching the afterglow of the explosion in cislunar space and wondering what might have caused it. His own mind was racing as the many bits of information he had learned over the last two months began to coalesce, quickly drawing up a conclusion that marked the potential unleashing of virtual _**Armageddon**_ on the local stellar cluster.

**Fact**: The Dragonspeaker took the Great Evil from Onishuto just before New Year's Day on Earth to deny the Goddess her final victory over him, most likely transporting him to her adopted home colony of Okusei.

**Conclusion**: Moroboshi Ataru took the last seven weeks to learn everything he could about the politics, economics and social structures of the local cluster. In doing so, he learned of the value of Earth's own solar system to the Galactic Federation of Planet-states, the alliance of worlds that Uru and Phentax Two were parts of.

**Fact**: Three days ago, the Imperial Chancellor of the Noukiite Outmarches made a public announcement declaring that an imperial commandery would be established concerning the inner part of the Sol system, effectively placing Earth under Noukiios' direct military protection. Coinciding with that, an announcement was made declaring that as far as the Urusians were concerned, Paragraph Ten of the Tag Race Treaty between Uru and Earth was now in effect for all citizens of Uru for the next two centuries Earth-time.

**Conclusion**: The Great Evil was moving to permanently keep the Goddess away from her Holy Apostles and Holy Company on Earth…as well as ensure that observers from Phentax Two could no longer send reports on Terran culture to their superiors, thus plunging a dagger right into the heart of Niphentaxian society itself.

**Fact**: The Noukiites and the Yehisrites just teamed together to liberate the Avalonians from slavery, destroying the Army of Lum along the way.

**Conclusion**: By wrecking Phentax Two's military power, the Great Evil would ensure the Galactic Federation would be left open and vulnerable to potential invasion by its traditional enemies, the Ipraedies Empire and the Imperial Houses of the Seifukusu Dominion.

**Fact**: The Final Solution had just been sent into orbit and detonated, no doubt in the midst of the squadron of the Army of Lum sent to Earth to occupy the planet.

**Conclusion One**: Moroboshi Ataru was moving to make an alliance with the Avalonians — who had probably seized elements of Niphentaxian technology for their own use on fleeing the Phentax system — thus moving to ensure Uru would NEVER have influence over his home planet ever again.

Even worse, the Avalonians — in a perfect show of vengeance against their former masters — wouldn't hesitate in _killing_ the Living Goddess' Holy Apostles and Her Holy Company in the Holy City of Tomobiki if they got the chance; with over seven hundred of the beautiful bioroid women living in the Holy City now, the Holy Apostles and Holy Company were seriously outnumbered!

And in a cosmic twist of irony that would have actually made Tarash laugh in other circumstances, the Niphentaxians' "Great Evil" would also become the Avalonians' "Great Liberator."

To be the man who rescued over TWO BILLION bioroids from SLAVERY…!

Tarash then jolted as something else came to him:

**Conclusion Two**: The Noukiites were coming to make a clean sweep of it, exposing what had been happening on Earth to the natives of this world as a whole.

_I'm either going to die…or face_ Hichkyech'eng_!_ the observer thought as he stepped into the small apartment block where he and his sister lived along with the fifteen other bioroids under his direct charge, drawing out his keys.

Both options were horrifying to say the least of it.

Death would force Tarash to learn if his faith was true.

Hichkyech'eng — Noukiios' top-tier prison planet, a hidden ice world somewhere in the vast space of the Imperial Dominion — would see him _**mentally reprogrammed**_ into becoming something that would guarantee he would be killed if he ever returned home:

An apostate.

THAT made Tarash weak in the knees.

_**No one**_ could ever be an apostate in Niphentaxian society.

Shuddering as he unlocked the door and entered his small apartment, Tarash took a deep breath as he considered what he could do now.

He couldn't forego his allegiance to the One True Faith.

He couldn't face the idea of having his very SOUL twisted around and moulded like silly putty by the wardens of Hichkyech'eng.

What COULD he do…?

He blinked as his eyes fell on a picture of him and Toshiko on a table next to the couch. Save for his tapered ears — which he normally kept hidden under bangs of his hair — they looked like fraternal twins, the perfect image of a loving older brother and a doting younger sister living together.

_Toshiko…!_

Tears filled his eyes as a wry smile crossed his face.

He would die tonight…

…but she would be free.

That was alright, wasn't it?

Noting that, he walked towards her bedroom. While the others of his group had often been annoyed at the fact that they had to spend money to allow the "robots" a chance to live like real people, Tarash always loved to buy things for Toshiko and the others under his charge. While nothing improper had happened between Tarash and his sister — after all, they were genetic fraternal twins; the problems with inbreeding were well known on Phentax Two…let alone the issues of what giving birth to an Avalonian-Niphentaxian hybrid child would unleash! — he always loved it whenever he got her new clothes and she gladly modelled them for him whenever he brought the packages home for her. Remembering that as he stepped into her bedroom — despite her being a motorcycle petrol-head, she was a neat-freak; the bed was always made and the room kept as spotless as possible — he stopped as the tears in his eyes trickled down his cheeks.

"You'll be free to live your life, Toshiko…eh?!"

He stopped on seeing a picture on the nightstand beside her bed, one that hadn't been there the last time he had been in her room. Walking over to it, he picked it up and stared at it, his eyes going wide. "Keitarō-san…?"

Sure enough, it was the manager of the Hinata-sō on the slopes of Ōgusu-yama, Urashima Keitarō. A lanky fellow of twenty with considerable bad luck yet possessing a heart of pure gold, he had failed the Centre Test to get into university three times since his graduation from high school. Failing to pass the second time saw him tossed out of his family home in nearby Hayama a year ago, which brought him to Hinata to seek lodgings at the Hinata-sō, owned by his paternal grandmother Urashima Hinata. Keitarō was more than happy to come to the Hinata-sō; he had stayed there many times as a child and knew the place like the back of his hand. Unfortunately, he never was warned ahead of time that the hotel had been transformed into a girls-only apartment block…which really made things interesting between him and the residents when he arrived the previous winter. Adding onto that was the fact that Keitarō's grandmother made him the manager/landlord of the Hinata-sō while she was off to enjoy a retirement tour of the world. That, naturally, didn't sit well with many of the people living there. And ever since that time…

"That's right!" Tarash hissed out.

Smiling with delight as he placed the picture back on the nightstand, he walked into his own bedroom. It happened just after Keitarō and the dorm residents returned two weeks ago from a trip down to Kyūshū and the Ryūkyū Islands; he had gone off after the latest Centre Test to recharge the mental batteries after his failure to pass it for a third time and the other residents had gone after him, no doubt to make sure he would come back and do his chores since they were too lazy — save for Maehara Shinobu — to do it themselves. While out shopping, he saw Toshiko driving down the street back to her apartment. She got clipped by a drunk driver, sending her flying off her machine towards a brick wall. Dropping his bags, Keitarō lunged over to catch Toshiko, using his body to absorb the impact…though, thanks to an invulnerability which made him seem a metahuman at times to the Niphentaxians in Hinata, he walked away from it a moment later with just a bruise. Of course, Toshiko was happy to walk him back to the Hinata-sō to make sure he could get back to his current place of residence in one piece; one of her sister Avalonians, Yamamoto Eriko, came by as soon as she could to take care of the damaged bike.

On their arrival at the Hinata-sō, the residents — who, to one extent or another, felt Keitarō was nothing more than a pervert; _Honestly! You'd think that girls planning or trying to get into_ **Tōkyō University** _of all places would be SMARTER than that!_ Tarash often thought when he contemplated on that weird attitude — all freaked out on seeing their manager with a beautiful _**girl**_ hanging off his arm. Unfortunately for them — much to Tarash's pride and delight — Mizote Toshiko was WAY tougher than any of the girls living in Hinata. When Narusegawa Naru and Aoyama Motoko moved to attack Keitarō for "molesting" an innocent girl, Toshiko whipped out two wrenches and threw them with the force of runaway Shin-kansen trains at their arms. Both girls suffered broken wrists, which horrified the other residents, not to mention Keitarō's cousin/aunt, the manager of a nearby tea shop. When Urashima Haruka and Konno Mitsune moved to upbraid Toshiko, the former's jaw was dislocated thanks to a backhand punch and the latter got a vicious punch in the stomach that knocked her out for the night. Then — in a move to "play" with Keitarō that was just simple abuse to anyone else — Kaolla Su tried to drop-kick him in the head. Toshiko grabbed her by the leg before she could make contact, dislocated her knee, then nearly crushed the poor girl's nose with a punch to the face.

At the end of it, a clearly-unruffled Toshiko told Keitarō, "You really ought to _**evict**_ these people, Keitarō-kun. If they treat you like that, they don't deserve to be here."

A whole chorus of heart attacks nearly resulted from those words from the still-conscious tenants.

To them, the "E" word was the most dreaded word of all.

Tarash was often amazed that Keitarō was such a kind-hearted man that he would NEVER contemplate throwing those women out onto the streets even for their appalling disrespect and abuse of him.

Ever since that incident — and brief stays at Hinata General Hospital for Naru, Motoko, Kaolla and Haruka — the people living at the Hinata-sō started to avoid the man as if he was infected with Hifuto…especially since Toshiko and several "friends" of hers such as Eriko came to visit Keitarō and take him out on dates. Fortunately, none of Tarash's co-workers — Jelina dai-Goranda, for example, was Eriko's mistress — saw anything wrong about their charges dating him; Urashima Keitarō was a perfect sociological case study due to his many passions, desire to honour a childhood promise and overwhelming drive to help anyone who needed help regardless of personal cost. Even more, all the observers in Hinata had noted over the last two weeks that most of the residents had come to like the idea of NOT seeing the poor manager of the city's namesake hotel/hot springs spa fly through the skies overhead thanks to a rage-induced punch from Naru or one of the Shinmei-ryū sword attacks Motoko could unleash. While Tarash hadn't talked to people to learn why, Toshiko told him that there had been a long, deep undercurrent of _**hate**_ towards the Urashima family — Keitarō excepted — felt by many of the residents of Hinata City, especially among people in the city government and many business owners…and that such feelings had, over the last year, come to encompass most of the current residents of the Hinata-sō.

Shaking his head as he dismissed that issue from his mind, Tarash sat down on his own bed to take a moment and think. As that cold chill that seized his heart earlier moved to grip him anew, he gritted his teeth…and then blinked.

He was going to die.

His sister and her friends would be free.

Toshiko clearly was interested in Urashima Keitarō.

He then smiled as he reached for his nightstand.

Well, if Toshiko was to be happy…

…four certain someones had to be shoved out of the way.

Especially two women who believed they were the SOLE arbiters of what was right and proper concerning the Hinata-sō and all those who resided there.

Drawing out the Niphentaxian-built, Urusian-pattern cellular disruptor pistol he had been issued as a means of self-defence in case he was discovered, Tarash smiled as he checked that it was loaded and ready.

It was finally time for the girls of the Hinata-sō to learn how UGLY the wider Universe beyond the borders of their little world could be…

* * *

The Hinata-sō, that moment…

"**_AH-CHOO!_**"

"**_AH-CHOO!_**"

"**_AH-CHOO!_**"

"**_AH-CHOO!_**"

Maehara Shinobu looked over from the entrance of a small kitchenette set aside to allow servants to prepare tea and snacks for guests in the main banquet hall. "Bless you all! What's wrong?!" she asked.

Moans escaped the women seated around the large table in the middle of the hall. "Someone's talking about me!" Narusegawa Naru moaned as she rubbed her nose.

"All of us," Konno Mitsune groaned before sipping her sake.

The young woman who normally dealt with the cooking and laundry issues at the Hinata-sō sighed before she moved to prepare the special tea set for Urashima Keitarō and Mizote Toshiko. The manager hadn't been seen by any of the tenants since early in the day; that "mean bōsōzoku girl" — as many of them had come to derisively call Toshiko — had come by to visit right at breakfast, then took him out to go on a day-long shopping trip. When Mitsune tried to remind Keitarō that the hot springs to the east of the banquet room needed cleaning, Toshiko — with a look that could melt solid lead — scornfully said, "If you're so worried about how filthy the springs YOU use — and block Keitarō-kun from using even if this _**is**_ his family property! — are, go clean it yourself, Konno! Or is this _**another**_ thing you'll heap on poor Shinobu-chan's shoulders like you do the cooking and laundry?!" Before Mitsune — who was _not_ used to the idea of people taking _Keitarō's_ side like that when it came to his duties as manager — could say anything in response, they were off…not to be seen again until after supper, when they came back after a long ride around the Miura Peninsula on the former's personally-modified Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic motorcycle cruiser.

Much to the shock of the others of the Hinata-sō, their manager came back dressed in form-fitting motorcycle leathers which showed off his thin, muscular frame, jet black overall with red-and-gold trim that matched the shade of Toshiko's favourite riding suit. Before people could say a thing, Keitarō invited Toshiko into the Detached Hall off to one side of the Hinata-sō's main building so they could spend some time alone. Naturally curious as to what was going on — and to ensure he wasn't doing anything improper — the girls scrambled over to eavesdrop on the structure…only to slam into what Aoyama Motoko immediately identified as powerful magical wards set well beyond the main door of the Detached Hall that couldn't be breached by anything known to her. Even worse, since they were _**magical**_ wards, there was no way that any of Kaolla Su's weapons or machines could penetrate such mystic defences that now sealed off the Hall from _**all**_ intrusion.

Stunned to realize there was now ONE place on the grounds — though none of them, admittedly, had any cause to enter this part of the Hinata-sō before — they couldn't enter, they ran to the Wafū Chabō Hinata to get Haruka's help. On hearing what had happened and who was now with her cousin/nephew, the tea shop matron refused to do anything. "If you girls don't realize that Keitarō's finally getting tired of you all sticking your noses where they don't belong, I don't know WHAT will have to happen to make you see it," she told them before asking them to leave the café so she could tend to customers.

Hearing _that_ from the former _ryōbo_ who had watched over them during the period between the departure of Keitarō's grandmother from the Hinata-sō until the time he was declared manager via a power of attorney agreement Hina signed with Keitarō's father (as he was then underage) on her grandson's behalf, the girls staggered into the banquet hall, completely stunned by _**this**_ turn of events. Having begrudgingly accepted Keitarō as their manager, all of the girls — even Shinobu, who was the most sympathetic to him even if she never did anything to help curb Naru's and Motoko's behaviour — believed themselves secure in their relationship vis-à-vis the man, confidant their strength and righteousness would keep him in line.

Two weeks ago, Mizote Toshiko totally shattered that sense of self-confidence.

What was worse, no matter what any of the girls tried to do to reassert their influence over Keitarō, Toshiko, not to mention a group of VERY beautiful women whom she invited over during the last two weeks to meet her new friend, were always there to verbally — and one time, _physically_! — cut them off at the knees.

That didn't sit well with ANY of them.

And now THIS…!

"Is that tea for us, Shinobu-chan?" Mitsune asked as Shinobu walked out of the kitchenette with the tea tray. "I can use a cup."

"No, this is for Sempai and Toshiko-sempai," Shinobu replied, which made the other girls gape in shock. "I'll just leave it at the edge of the wards, then call out to them and tell them the tea's there." She then glared at Kaolla, who instantly perked at the idea of getting the chance to get close to her "Onii-chan;" ever since the "meanie" had broke her knee and punched her in the face, the young princess of Molmol had not "played" with Keitarō thanks to the meanie's equally-mean friends always butting in the way. "And YOU better not do anything to bother Sempai and Toshiko-sempai, Su-chan! Do you want Toshiko-sempai to do what she did to Naru-sempai and Motoko-sempai two weeks ago?!"

Kaolla yelped — she had been horrified to hear what the meanie had done to her friends — as the other girl marched off, ignoring the shocked looks on the faces of the other residents. Once clear of the banquet hall, Shinobu took a deep breath, then walked down the covered walkway to the Detached Hall. Now that she was alone, the raven-haired, grey-eyed middle school freshman took another deep breath as she felt a surge of icy fear rip up her spine. She had been at the back of the crowd when Naru walked face-first into those wards, nearly burning her alive as a result. After hearing Motoko's explanation about what the wards were — and how the Shinmei-ryū kendō-ka could not defeat such wards — Shinobu knew right away that a normal girl like her wouldn't stand a chance against them. _But where did they come from?!_ she wondered as she stopped close to the last overhang supporting posts before the door leading into the Detached Hall; this was where Naru had nearly been fried alive. _Hina-obāchan never said anything about them!_ "Sempai!" she called out. "I brought some tea for you and Toshiko-sempai!"

Two seconds later — just as Shinobu was about to put the tray onto the walkway — the door opened to reveal Mizote Toshiko. Gazing on the pretty twenty-something motorbike enthusiast, Shinobu felt a rush of both envy and admiration flood her because of the older woman's exceptional good looks. Toshiko was the perfect mix of energetic tomboy and sexy supermodel. She had wavy sandy blonde hair cropped at the bottom of her neck and dark grey eyes that glittered with both playfulness and knowledge. She was quite well-formed though not busty as some of her friends who had visited Keitarō over the last two weeks seemed to be. Right now, she was draped in her normal red-and-gold racing leathers, which fit her body like a snug glove; on seeing Toshiko for the first time after nearly getting her stomach punched into her lungs, Mitsune swore the woman didn't wear a bra and that her nipples were visible under her suit. Shinobu didn't care; Toshiko didn't flaunt her looks or do anything improper around Keitarō even if she was always quick to tear after the other residents of the Hinata-sō when given the chance.

"Ara! Shinobu-chan!" Toshiko said in that warm voice of hers as she came up to take the tray. "You didn't need to do this!"

"I had to," Shinobu confessed. "Given all the awful things the others have done to Sempai since he came here…" She then lowered her eyes. "Not to mention my doing nothing about it, to say anything of Haruka-sempai doing nothing about it…"

Toshiko smirked. "Well, given how domineering Narusegawa and Aoyama are — to say anything of all the times Konno loves to stir up trouble, not to mention the fact that so-called 'princess' is nothing more than a spoiled child who needs a good spanking…" — she smirked on hearing gargled breaths eminate from the direction of the main banquet hall, confirming that yet again, the other residents were eavesdropping on them — "…you are outnumbered in this place." That made Shinobu blush at the older woman's willingness to defend her inaction concerning Keitarō. "C'mon in. Keitarō-kun's showing me something neat."

Before Shinobu could react, Toshiko grabbed her arm with a grip of steel, then dragged her through the doorway. "Sempai! Wait! The…!" she cried out before blinking in shock on noting that nothing happened to her. "…wards?" she eeped.

Behind her, the door closed, leaving behind four gaping people standing like dumbstruck idiots at the doorway leading into the banquet hall. Inside the Detached Hall, now seated at the small table there, Keitarō smirked. "Nuna-ya won't hurt you if you don't have ill-intentions towards me, Shinobu-chan," he said as Toshiko put the tray on the table, beckoning the younger girl over to a chair. "When we came here earlier, Narusegawa-san and Aoyama-san were hell-bent on 'punishing' me for my 'perversions' concerning Toshiko-chan, Konno-san wanted some juicy gossip as a way to try to extort more money from me and Su-san just wanted a chance to beat me up like she normally does. Nuna-ya doesn't like that."

Shinobu sat down as Toshiko moved to serve the tea. "'Nuna-ya?'"

Keitarō smiled as he held up something that made the younger girl gape. "The Lady T'aeja of Chosŏn," he declared with formal dignity, which made Shinobu blink in confusion. "Otherwise known as the Yōkatana Hinata."

If being introduced so formally to a _**katana**_ was odd…

…what came next made Shinobu faint: _**Hello, Shinobu-ya!**_ a cheery female voice — echoing with a divine-like boom similar to the voice of God from _The Ten Commandments_ — then said. _**It's nice to know that one of the girls tricked by that stupid fool Hina is willing to give Keitarō-ya a chance.**_

After the poor girl passed out, Toshiko sighed. "She took that very well."

Keitarō chuckled…

* * *

On the slopes of the Tarōzakura Hill in Tomobiki (forty kilometres west of north from Hinata in Nishitōkyō City), that moment…

"Most Venerable, are you alright?"

Hearing that concerned question from the Noukiite Imperial Marines lieutenant colonel who commanded the battalion of troops now ruthlessly sweeping through Tomobiki and its neighbouring municipalities to flush out the Niphentaxian observers based here, a tomboyish twenty-something woman with dark brown hair and almost black eyes in a black martial arts gi blinked before she turned to gaze on him. "I was just surprised on noting a voice echoing from a location in the city of Hinata south of here," Moroboshi Negako stated. "I never expected to hear _that_ voice."

Walking up to stand beside the first true artificial intelligence to ever arise on Earth, a flame-haired Noukiite free warrior with chestnut eyes blinked as she cast her own metahuman enhanced eyesight in the direction her friend was gazing. "That's a _ch'enguop'i_," Seu-P'ye Yesu-Re Hechnich'-K'ekhech of Ait'uch Nehech declared, the surprise in her voice apparent to all around her, even the members of the Mendō Clan and their servants who just watched the destruction of their clan's spiritual guardian…which — as they now had just learned — had contributed to the detonation of an ALIEN BOMB that had been buried in Tomobiki beyond the knowledge of anyone in the town. Save for over three hundred members of an alien race NONE of them had ever heard of who had been living amongst them since the end of the previous summer. "What is she doing in Nihon? People such as her should be living in Hanguk, not Nihon, Negako."

"She was brought here against her will during the invasion of Chosŏn by a retainer serving Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the first year of Bunroku, then transformed from the fireplace poker — in whose form she first gained sentience — into a very well-forged katana eventually named the 'Yōkatana Hinata.'" Negako lightly smiled at Kyech. "Naturally, T'aeja did not care for such a thing…and when she gained the chance in the eighth year of Keichō, she expressed her displeasure by burning most of Kyōto to the ground, nearly wiping out all practitioners of the Shinmei-ryū who were active at the time and coming within a hair's breadth of killing off Emperor Katahito and his family. My creator had to step in to stop her."

"Um…Negako-sama?"

"You have a question, Ryōko," Negako stated as she gazed at Mendō Ryōko.

"If I recall correctly, the Yōkatana Hinata has always been kept in the possession of the Urashima Clan of Hayama," the younger heiress of the Mendō of Musashino stated. "Would this have something to do with all the strange things that happen around Urashima Keitarō-san? I know he and your brother are friends."

"Ataru and Keitarō are more passing acquaintances than true friends," Negako modified. "Unfortunately, I cannot answer such a question as I have not had the chance to examine Keitarō since I gained my own body." She then hummed. "Still, now that T'aeja is involved…"

"Such a monster has to be destroyed!"

Negako's eyebrow slightly twitched. "Why do you propose that, Shūtarō?"

Mendō Shūtarō — who had been shocked into a near-catatonic state weeks ago on realizing that his hated rival had for _**ten years**_ been the host body of _**Imperial Special Agent #49**_, the being who had slaughtered the last members of the Black Dragon Society back in 1945 all by herself at the behest of the Shōwa Emperor — shuddered. "If this creature nearly killed the Heavenly Sovereign at the time of that awful incident, it's a…UUURK!"

THAT croak of underwear-soiling horror was thanks to the lethal stares the Dragonspeaker and the other Noukiites who had overheard him were now sent his way. Noting that her brother's rival for the hand of Redet Hensō had been cowed into submission, Negako sighed. "Shūtarō, a word of advice. I realize you have not gained any chance to learn about Noukiite society, but know this: Beings such as tsukumogami and tokkaebi are known on Noukiios as _ch'enguop'i_. They are seen by normal Noukiites as angels of the Lord of Heaven, deserving of his blessings. To do as was done to T'aeja would — if done on Noukiios — earn the wrath of ALL the angels who serve the Lord of Heaven. I would suggest that before you speak such words, you LISTEN to others and OBSERVE their actions before voicing such conclusions. If I was not here, Kyech would have gladly beheaded you for such comments. Do you comprehend that?"

_WHACK!_

"Stupid boy!" Mendō's aged grandfather, Mendō Genjurō, snarled after he hit his family's future leader with the business end of his walking stick, knocking the poor man out.

As Ryōko giggled, her mother Haruka shook her head and her father Hajime calmly smoked his pipe, Kyech turned to Negako. "Do you want to see your friend?"

Negako sighed. "I believe I will have to."

"Alright." The Dragonspeaker gazed on the Imperial Marine colonel. "See to it that all the Niphentaxians your battalion captures are taken to Tomobiki High School. The safety of your troops is paramount, but no unnecessary executions. These people need to understand what sort of monsters have been living amongst them during the last half-year. If you find any Avalonians, treat them with kindness. They will not feel the destruction of the genetic lock in their DNA until the factory arrives in this system."

A deep bow and left fist-in-right open palm salute answered her. "I understand, My Lady K'ekhech."

Kyech then gently squeezed Negako's shoulder…and in a flash of magical fire, both people disappeared…

* * *

On the Hinata-dōri at the south end of the Hinata-sō property, that moment…

Smiling on noting that his sister had Keitarō — and Maehara Shinobu, who was a good lass with a decent heart even if she allowed herself to be bullied by the other residents here — in a side building, Tarash dai-Joranth nodded as he shut off his portable tricorder, then slipped it into his jacket pocket. Drawing out his pistol, he clicked off the safety, confirming it was set to the highest non-lethal power setting. Of course, it wouldn't kill any of the bitches now inside the banquet hall…but they would feel the effects of the weapon for a long time to come, especially a martial artist like Aoyama Motoko. Too bad.

With that, he began ascending the stairs…

* * *

A flash of fire allowed two women to appear on the lawn to the north of the covered walkway connecting the Detached Hall to the Hinata-sō. As Negako shook her head — she didn't care for Kyech's form of teleportation, though she did appreciate the Noukiite's willingness to get her to where she had to go quickly — they stepped onto the walkway and approached the main door. Pausing on sensing the magical wards, Negako reached out to allow them to touch her. Feelings of shock and surprise instantly surged through her hand into her mind…which then melted into delighted acceptance and welcome. She stepped past the ward line, beckoning her companion to follow. Kyech came up, clapping her hands once as she uttered a traditional prayer to request that the Lord of Heaven bestow His Blessings upon the poor angel within this building, and then she moved to step inside…

"_**YAY! ONII-CHAN! LET'S PLAY!**_"

…before her hand snare the foot of a young girl with tanned skin who appeared to be about fourteen or so, dressed in a school seifuku even if she had bare feet. As the girl who had tried to kick aside the weird woman with the crimson hair blinked on noting that she had been literally stopped in mid-flight, Kyech sighed as she allowed her arm to bend slightly…and then, with a gentle shove, she sent the poor girl flying like a speeding bullet _through_ the open doorway of the banquet hall to crash face-first into the floor close to the couch where Mitsune and Naru were sitting!

"_**WHAT THE HELL…?!**_" both women cried out as they bolted to their feet.

By then, the door to the Detached Hall had been opened and closed. Inside the banquet hall, Motoko was instantly at Kaolla's side, helping the dazed girl into a sitting position. "What the hell happened to her?! Was it Mizote?!" Mitsune demanded.

The kendō-ka reached out with her ki to sense what just struck down the younger girl. After a few minutes' scanning, her face then turned sheet-white as she nearly curled in on herself. "Motoko!" Naru gasped. "What's wrong?!"

"_D-d-d-dragon…!_" Motoko sputtered out…

…as an alien pistol was aimed at her right shoulder.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the Detached Hall…

"Eh?! You're the _**Saikō Jinseijutsu**_?!"

"The same. You may now address me as Moroboshi Negako, Keitarō."

Keitarō — who had been helping Toshiko try to revive Shinobu — blinked several times, and then he pointed at her. "You were in Ataru's subconscious mind for TEN YEARS?!"

"That is correct," Negako affirmed with a nod.

He then blinked as he considered that — T'aeja had told him over the years about her bodiless "sŏnbae-nim" who had first been created a thousand years before and had gained full sentience in 1808 — for a moment before he laughed. "Well, it's an honour to meet you, Negako-sama!" he stated as he bowed politely to her, which she returned with a nod. "Um, so who's your friend here? Is she one of these…Noukiites I heard about?"

"You know of us?" Kyech stated.

He nodded. "Hai. After your friends brought all of Ataru's classmates back, they gave an interview about what happened on Uru." He sighed. "Well, if you did that to help Negako-sama get her own life, Ojō-sama, thank you so much."

Kyech smiled as she moved to give him a proper hand-salute. "I am Seu-P'ye Yesu-Re Hechnich'-K'ekhech of Ait'uch Nehech, born in this life in the city of Ryekkyuk on the planet Noukiios," she stated with a bow of her head. "My childhood name is Kyech. I give my name for you to use, Master Urashima Keitarō, spirit-brother of the Venerable Lady Angel T'aeja of Chosŏn."

Keitarō blushed before bowing to her. "Arigatō, Kyech-sama."

"There is no need for _that_ level of formality with either of us, Keitarō," Negako stated. "I care not for honorifics of any sort…and truthfully, neither does Kyech." She then gazed on the beautiful katana now in his hands. "I see you have been used several times since last we met, T'aeja. Was it voluntary?"

_**No, it wasn't, Sŏnbae-nim!**_ the tokkaebi within the fireplace poker-turned-bladed weapon huffed. **_Some stupid girl — who's an even WORSE disgrace to her Art than Motoko-ya can be at times! — came by to snare me from the storage room every once in a while when she 'needed my services.' Thanks to what your father did to me when he stopped me from killing the idiots that brought me to this land in the first place, I couldn't resist her! Thank the Fates that the little girl was compelled by those same bonds to return me back here when she was done with me!_**

Negako closed her eyes. "T'aeja, is there some strange reason you are calling me 'sŏnbae-nim?'"

Keitarō could sense a knowing smirk in his "sister's" voice as she replied, _**And WHO'S the one with a THOUSAND years of knowledge crammed into her head?!**_

Negako groaned as she shook her head…and then she tensed as a faint _KK-KRACK!_ echoed through the closed door of the Detached Hall. Instantly, she spun around as she extended her ki senses out…just as more sharp sounds echoed through the door, that echoed with frightened, angry screams. Kyech was also quick to sense it. Without hesitation, the Dragonspeaker teleported out of the room…

…to appear in the banquet hall beside a sandy-haired fellow — a Niphentaxian, she noted right away — who just nearly shot the head off a defenceless woman with long caramel-shaded hair and dark brown eyes behind glasses! Now laid out on the floor close to a couch were three other women, including the girl she flung away from the Detached Hall minutes earlier. Before he could see what sort of threat had just appeared beside him, her hand squeezed at the corner of his neck and shoulder, causing him to croak as the power of her mind overwhelmed him and sent him crashing to the floor. Sensing that Negako was moving this way, Kyech teleported herself away to summon medical assistance.

Fortunately, the woman who had literally embodied a millennium of knowledge in ninjutsu and other martial arts techniques that eventually became known as "Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū" was quick to sense what happened once she entered the banquet hall. Noting the assailant — clearly genetically related to Keitarō's Avalonian friend who had been visiting him — and the disruptor pistol set to high stun, she moved to commence ki treatment of the badly bruised Narusegawa Naru. By then, Keitarō and Toshiko charged in, the former carrying the Yōkatana. "Negako-san! What on Earth's…?!" His voice screeched to a halt on seeing the badly hurt and bleeding women on the floor.

"Toshiko's brother came here to permanently disable the tenants of the Hinata-sō, no doubt to ensure she would have a free hand to seek you out romantically," Negako calmly explained as a flash of fire shone through the hall's windows to herald the return of the Dragonspeaker. As a troop of Noukiite medical personnel stormed in, Negako gazed on their leader. "He is the assailant. Place him under suicide watch," she stated as she pointed at the unconscious Tarash dai-Joranth, and then she indicated the unmoving bodies of Narusegawa Naru, Konno Mitsune, Aoyama Motoko and Kaolla Su. "These four women have been struck with disruptor bolts at the highest non-lethal level."

"My thanks, Most Venerable," the healer in charge stated with a smile.

As the medics got to work, Kyech peeked inside. "A platoon's moved to take Tarash's friends into custody, Negako," she stated. "I'll have another platoon find Toshiko's sisters and bring them here for their own safety."

"Excellent."

With that, the Dragonspeaker teleported away. "So he was your master, wasn't he?" Keitarō asked as he gazed with disgust at the unconscious Tarash.

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"You _**knew**_?!"

That was a white-faced Toshiko. Sensing the fear in her voice on realizing that he had known all along about her being a Terran-form Avalonian, Keitarō chuckled as he held up the Yōkatana. "Nuna-ya told me about you the instant you came close enough to her to sense you out. She also shielded my mind from your telepathy so that you didn't panic on finding out I knew your secret," he stated before leaning over to tenderly kiss her, which instantly made her blush. "Let me tell you this, Toshiko-chan: **_I — don't — care!_**" he whispered into her ear.

Toshiko blinked several times as her mind took a chance to absorb that — hastened by her own empathy and telepathy, which told her that Keitarō was telling the truth — and then she smiled as her eyes teared. "Arigatō…"

With that, she allowed herself to sink into his embrace as she began to weep. He moved to hold her close, waving one of the Noukiite medics away when she moved to also give comfort…

* * *

Within an hour, a large crowd of confused yet curious women appearing to be between twelve to twenty-four years of age had been gathered in the banquet hall. All had been given field rations by the Noukiite marines who had come here to clear out the small team of Niphentaxians who had hidden themselves inside the city. As the television relayed images from NHK about incidents around the world where warriors of the ancient race who were Earth's immediate extra-system neighbours — they had a colony on the fourth world of Alpha Centauri A called "Tengsei" — crashed into houses to flush out natives of Phentax Two and free their Avalonian slaves, a dazed Maehara Shinobu could only just shake her head in horror at what was being revealed.

That _**aliens**_ — and of a race that had actually worshipped the would-be wife of _**Moroboshi Ataru**_ of all people as a **_living goddess_**! — had been on Earth spying on the natives for DECADES, totally unnoticed by local authorities, had been horrifying.

That they had buried a BOMB — one powerful enough to wipe out all life in Japan at that! — in Tomobiki in hopes of making poor Ataru ultimately bow to Redet Hensō was even worse.

But the most ghastly thing of all…

"I'm okay, Shinobu! Karan didn't hurt me! Relax!"

Shinobu tried to smile as she gazed on Kashiwamura Moe. A classmate of hers at Hinata Middle School, Moe had the same hair colour as Toshiko, though it was styled in a cute bob-cut. She also had beautiful amber-brown eyes Shinobu just thought were just gorgeous to gaze into. And she had often gazed at the physically youngest of the Avalonian assistant observers living in Hinata; ever since both met back in elementary school — Moe had been created four years ago — Shinobu had come to see the other girl as her best friend. They had even recently begun exploring their sexuality together, though neither had gone past kissing "like big girls do" and touching each other in their private places. "Still, if what Toshiko-sempai told me some of those creeps did to all your friends…!"

"Well, they'll be on their way to Hichkyech'eng once Star Chamber on Tengsei gets finished with them," Moe said as she sipped a bottle of energy juice a Noukiite medic had given her. "Especially Toshiko's brother. I can't believe he came charging in here ready to kill all of your friends just to let her get a chance at Keitarō-sempai! That's wrong!"

Shinobu nodded. From what Negako and Kyech told her about Avalonians, they were the last living remnants of a great race that had lived on a planet OUTSIDE the galaxy itself until it had destroyed itself in a horrible war thirteen thousand years ago. Because of that, people like Moe were genetically programmed to accept certain things as quite normal…just like Terrans and other races were genetically programmed to do certain things. One of those unique factors about the bioroid race was that Avalonians — who were all girls; the bioroid factory that created them was built that way — were functionally bisexual. In fact, it had been seen as quite normal amongst the Avalonians' ancestors on Sagussa for people as young as TWELVE to seek out a person of the same sex who could become a "bond-mate," then forge a life-long deep psychic bond that would be the equal of a marriage bond in every magical society on Earth. Even more so, it was also seen as quite acceptable that once a Sagussan was bonded, s/he and her/his partner would find a compatible "child-mate" to co-parent any children…which Mizote Toshiko and her friends had, in effect, been doing with Urashima Keitarō these last two weeks. Even more so, it was seen as alright for various bond-mate couples to SHARE a potentially good child-mate with each other to promote the birth of strong children…just like many girls on Earth were genetically primed to always view healthy-looking men as potential mates to promulgate the birth of strong children.

And while she knew she was slowly but ever so surely falling in love with Keitarō…

…Shinobu didn't really know if she could accept SHARING him with other people.

«You're too young to think about that sort of thing, Shinobu!»

Shinobu gasped on hearing that voice echo in her mind, and then she giggled as she leaned over to kiss Moe on the lips; now that their "relationship" was effectively in the open — alternate lifestyles had been accepted on Noukiios for over two thousand years — she wasn't so shy now with the other girl in public. She then perked on hearing footsteps, and then she gazed on Yamamoto Eriko. Like Toshiko had been to her "brother," Eriko was a Terran-form Avalonian replica of her "sister" Jelina dai-Goranda. Possessing dark lavender-grey hair that went to mid-back and eyes the same shade as Moe's, Eriko was dressed in form-fitting jeans and a button blouse that left NOTHING to the imagination as to what was underneath. She also had the look of a teacher; she had worked as a private tutor for children in Hinata over the four years she had been alive, earning spending money to use on herself given that her mistress had been hesitant on splurging on any of her "robot" slaves. Thinking on that, Shinobu could only scowl in disgust. Eriko had tutored her in several subjects before her parents broke up; Shinobu personally had no problems with her whatsoever.

"How are you holding out, Shinobu?" Eriko asked as she leaned down to place a warm hand on her shoulder, sending an empathic wave of comfort into the younger girl.

Shinobu sighed. "Still in shock…but now that I understand what you all went through, I can accept how you came to be here, Eriko-sensei." She giggled. "And if they hadn't enslaved you and put that bomb in Tomobiki, I'd think the Niphentaxians weren't so bad either. I just can't imagine how they live, not being able to **_create_** things."

Eriko nodded. "Yes, it is sad…and with what Negako-sama, her siblings, the Noukiites and the Yehisrites just did, it's going to bite them all in their collective backsides _**hard**_ very quickly." She sighed. "Negako-sama has a friend she'll have come here to examine us magically to verify what we are and what we can do, then that evidence will be presented to the Heavenly Sovereign." As Shinobu gasped on hearing the physically older woman refer to Japan's head of state, Eriko added, "Once he understands what's going on, I'm sure he'll suggest to the government that we'd be allowed to stay. While I don't know the exact numbers, a lot of my sisters were moulded in the shape of Japanese women. If we move here, predictions of a 'population implosion' in Japan that doomsayers have always harped on over the last few years will be a thing of the past."

Shinobu nodded. Since Moroboshi Negako was the legendary Imperial Special Agent #49, her loyalty to the Throne was unquestioned. If she had a friend who could confirm what sort of good people Eriko, Moe, Toshiko and their sisters were like for the approval of the Heavenly Sovereign, then their being allowed to move to Japan _en masse_ was guaranteed; even if he had no active political power these days, the Son of Heaven WAS morally responsible for ensuring the peace and harmony of the nation. Since Japan's population had been taking a nose-dive in the last few decades, getting new people into the country was paramount. Since Eriko and her sisters were moulded to be Japanese…!

"Shinobu-chan! Moe-chan! Eriko-san!"

All three turned as Keitarō walked into the banquet hall. "What is it, Sempai?" Shinobu asked as she stood up…

…and then croaked on seeing the severely beautiful woman in the traditional robes of a Shintō shrine maiden walk in beside him. Appearing to be about thirty or so, she was exceptionally beautiful in the classical Oriental sense…save for the eyes, which were twin pools of pure onyx black, even in the sclera around the barely-noticeable pupils and irises. She didn't have any of the traditional shrine miko equipment like an azusayumi, tamagushi or haraegushi…but given the aura of overwhelming power and knowledge that billowed from every point on her person, she really didn't seem to need such things. "Um…!"

Keitarō smiled. "This is Yomigawa Tsukiko-sama, also known as the Lady Tsukuyomi-no-Tsukushi," he said as he moved to introduce their guest. "She was the last Mahō-Shōgun in Japan; to magicals worldwide, she's seen as a great freedom fighter."

"Except in the eyes of those backward fools in Europe, Keitarō-kun," Tsukiko said with an amused grin before she gazed intently on Eriko and Moe for a moment. "My, my! I had a few of your masters' countrymen in the village not so far from my shrine in Kyūshū. To believe they were so passionate in learning everything about life here on Earth! Should we be flattered or frightened by such a thing?!" She shook her head. "Well, they'll be gone soon…"

"What about Eriko-san and the others?" he asked.

"Oh, they can stay!" the Dark Lady of the Orient declared without hesitation. "Besides, Negako-chan had to become an Avalonian to be finally free of Ataru-kun's mind, so there's simply no choice in the matter."

Eriko blinked. "Thoughtmistress-prime, please! We don't want to…!"

"'Thoughtmistress-prime?!'" Keitarō, Shinobu and Tsukiko asked in sync.

Moe blinked, and then she laughed…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

A general note: Given that this is a background story to _Phoenix From the Ashes_, it would be ultimately advised to read that story — especially the writer's notes contained at the end of each part — to better comprehend some of the people, concepts and other things introduced here. If I made notes on EVERYTHING that was mentioned here which also was mentioned or appeared in _PFtA_, the writer's notes could potentially equal the story text in and of itself! I will try to cover basic topics, but I don't think a full recounting of things noted elsewhere is necessary.

Also, it should be noted that, concerning the _Love Hina_ cast, the actual time setting of the series was moved up from the late 1990s to 2010. To that end, here are the ages and birthdays of the major characters as of 17 February 2010:

**Seta Noriyasu** — Age 28 (Birthday: 13 July 1981)  
**Urashima Haruka** — Age 27 (Birthday: 1 June 1982)  
**Aoyama Tsuruko** — Age 24 (Birthday: 12 September 1985)  
**Amalla Su** — Age 24 (Birthday: 12 November 1985)  
**Otohime Mutsumi** — Age 20 (Birthday: 3 March 1989)  
**Urashima Keitarō** — Age 20 (Birthday: 5 January 1990)  
**Haitani Masayuki** — Age 20 (Birthday: 6 February 1990)  
**Shirai Kimiaki** — Age 19 (Birthday: 8 March 1990)  
**Konno Mitsune** — Age 19 (Birthday: 31 August 1990)  
**Narusegawa Naru** — Age 17 (Birthday: 25 March 1992)  
**Aoyama Motoko** — Age 16 (Birthday: 1 December 1993)  
**Urashima Kanako** — Age 16 (Birthday: 1 August 1994)  
**Kaolla Su** — Age 14 (Birthday: 11 January 1996)  
**Maehara Shinobu** — Age 13 (Birthday: 15 November 1996)  
**Sarah MacDougall** — Age 8 (Birthday: 4 December 2001)

In the case of Amalla and Kimiaki, their birthdays were never listed anywhere. I used the birthdays of their Japanese voice actors, **Hisakawa Aya** and **Miyashita Michio** respectively.

Please also note that in my stories, Korean words and phrases — including city names and personal names — are written using the **McCune-Reischauer** system of Romanization. This system was developed in 1937 by **George M. McCune** (1909-48) and **Edwin O. Reischauer** (1910-90) and was in effective use in South Korea until 2002 and remains in use in North Korea to this day. In 2002, a new "revised" system was introduced by the South Korean government that got rid of things such as breves over "o" and "u" to distinguish the two distinct type of sounds normally be spelt with those letters (i.e. **o** [written in han'gŭl as **오**] for the close-mid back rounded vowel like in _g__o_ and **ŏ** [**어**] for the open-mid back unrounded vowel like in _th__ough__t_…as well as **u** [**우**] for the close back rounded vowel like in _b__oo__t_ and **ŭ** [**으**] for the close back unrounded vowel like in the Scots Gaelic _c__ao__l_ [meaning "thin"]), not to mention apostrophes following certain consonants which distinguished aspirated sounds. In my eyes, the McCune-Reischauer system is the more accurate way of transcribing Korean sounds into Latin letters; the new system used in South Korea can get confusing to people who don't fully understand Korean phonics. Thus, I write the city name "Seoul" as **Sŏul** and the family name "Park" as **Pak**.

As an aside, Japanese and Mandarin Chinese names and terms are Romanized using the Hepburn and Hànyǔ Pīnyīn systems respectively.

Now, the notes for this chapter:

1) The actual location of the **Hinata-sō** has never been given in the _Love Hina_ manga series; all that has ever been indicated is that the dorm and its namesake city is somewhere in Kanagawa Prefecture close to the ocean. I place the city of Hinata on the coast of the **Sagami Sea** (_Sagami-wan_) on the western side of **Ōgusu-yama** (Mount Ōgusu) near the southern tip of the Miura Peninsula, directly opposite the urban part of Yokosuka. In real life, the city of Hinata would actually form part of the total municipal area of Yokosuka.

2) The teaser scene is set around the time Keitarō made the vow with both **Otohime Mutsumi** and **Narusegawa Naru** that all three of them would do all they could to get into **Tōkyō University** (_Tōkyō Daigaku_, known in short as **Tōdai**) together.

3) The **Yōkatana Hinata** (also known as the "Cursed Blade" or the "Ominous Blade") was revealed in the manga to have done two things. First, it was said to have turned the city of Kyōto into a sea of flame. Secondly, it was possessed by someone who had the strength to fight all the warriors of the **Shinmei-ryū** almost to near-extinction. However, the exact details were never explained in the manga. Thus, falling back on the folklore of Korea which I learned in the nine years I lived there teaching English from 1996-2005, I decided that the only type of enemy that could easily fit the two conditions that made the Yōkatana so deadly in the first place is a **tokkaebi**. As noted above, tokkaebi are the Korean equivalent of Japanese **tsukumogami** (literally "kami in the tool"), a type of **yōkai** — the catch-all term for ghosts, phantoms or other strange apparitions — that appear in old physical objects. Tsukumogami frequently appear in Japanese manga and anime, including _Love Hina_ (as will be introduced in the next chapter) and _Urusei Yatsura_ (note the **kasa-obake** [one-legged umbrella] that shows up in the manga story "Raindrops Keep Fallin'…" [manga episode #36]). The typical tsukumogami is said to become fully sentient when it reaches a hundred years of age.

A tokkaebi is often depicted in folklore as a humorous, grotesque-looking sprite or goblin; in my first exposure to the stories concerning these creatures, they made me think of beings similar to Japanese oni but with a single large horn-bud at the top of their head. While sometimes viewed as frightening, they are more often depicted as mischief-makers who play mean tricks on evil people yet bestowing good people with wealth and blessings; I will emphasize that with T'aeja. Unlike ghosts, tokkaebi are born from the mystical transformation of an inanimate object; this is the reason people draw connections between tokkaebi and tsukumogami. Like oni, tokkaebi carry a mallet or club-like object called a **pangmang'i** which serves as a sort of magical wand. However, unlike true magical wands, tokkaebi cannot create things with the pangmang'i; they can only affect things that already exist.

Please note that while T'aeja here will have many aspects of a tokkaebi, much of what she can do and why she does it has been badly warped because of the events that saw her become the Yōkatana Hinata. That will be explained in future chapters.

4) **Namhansan-sŏng** ("South Han Mountain Fortress") is a series of fortifications which were erected in the mountains to the southeast of **Hansŏng** (modern-day Sŏul) in the wake of the events of the **Imjin War** — the invasion of Chosŏn Korea by the forces of **Toyotomi Hideyoshi** (born in either 1536 or 1537 [depending on source materials], died 1598) during 1592-98 — that ravaged the whole country. While Namhansan-sŏng did not actually exist at the time T'aeja was brought to Japan — the construction of the modern works wasn't launched until 1624 — there had been fortifications in and around the site since the days of **Paekche**, one of Korea's Three Kingdoms that existed from 18 B.C.E. to 660 C.E. and would be revised briefly from 892-936 as **Hubaekche** ("Latter Paekche"). These days, what remains of Namhansan-sŏng is preserved inside a provincial park within the borders of the modern city of **Sŏngnam**.

5) While detailed explanations about the peoples mentioned in this story are noted on in _Phoenix From the Ashes_, I will say this about the two main races reflected on in this story, which I first created for _The Senior Year_ story "What Price For Love?":

I based the **Niphentaxians** on the Iotians from the classic _Star Trek_ episode "A Piece of the Action," but gave them a very strong religious bent. Due to their inability to create their own things, they are constantly on the search for people they view as touched by the Divine to act as cultural inspiration; the latest object of that ongoing search was **Lum**, who saved a Niphentaxian boy named **Ōgi** from being eaten by a monster when both were children. However, because of the potential power controlling contact with such "divine" beings could bestow, a "church system" developed on Phentax Two (the Niphentaxian home planet). This system allowed those who discover new "living divinities" to unleash a "Great Awakening" and create a new "church" with ease; naturally, the "faith" formed around Lum is called the **Church of Lum** (and its holy book the _Book of Lum_). At the same time, to preserve such a system, draconian laws banning **_anything_** that might shake up the social order among Ōgi's people came into vogue. This is why Tarash fears becoming an apostate; by doing THAT, he would — by NOT believing in any divinity — be saying the whole "church system" is nothing more than a great **_lie_**. Of course, the "powers that be" couldn't tolerate that, stamping down on such outbreaks as quick as they appeared; given that Niphentaxians can't create ANYTHING on their own — including their own indigenous social structures — any support towards decriminalizing apostasy wouldn't gain any sort of steam.

This, of course, heavily contributed to the whole tragic situation surrounding the Niphentaxians' relationship with the **Avalonians**, who are genetic cousins to the **Sagussans** that make such an impact in _TSY_. The Avalonians — I model the race of **_bioroids_** (which I see as a portmanteau of "biological androids," meaning artificially-created organic beings no different than pure-born humans) after the citizens of Olympus in Shirō Masamune's 1980s manga _Appleseed_, though they are all women and could be fashioned as unique beings in lieu of being always cloned from donor DNA — are not restricted genetically like the Niphentaxians are when it comes to creating their own things. Thus, when they were introduced into Niphentaxian society a hundred years before this story began, the first generation of Avalonians literally questioned EVERYTHING…which simply could not be allowed by the "powers that be." The Niphentaxians immediately enforced a genetic "loyalty lock" on the bioroids to ensure they never did anything to upset the society they were effectively being enslaved to. This also led to the policy that forbade the birth of Avalonian-Niphentaxian hybrids as such children would have the ability to create…which flew right in the face of set laws which declared that anyone with ANY amount of Niphentaxian blood was seen as a citizen of Phentax Two; **_slaves_**, after all, could not be citizens! Given an ever-growing desire for pretty Avalonians to serve as sex slaves across Niphentaxian society, any drive for abolition — as such would naturally be perceived as a direct attack on the "church system" itself — was quashed; this is the reason **Ganzo dai-Louc** was eventually declared the "Arch-Heretic" and driven out of his home solar system many years before this story began.

By the time the events of this story happen, the Avalonians had become a vital element of the Niphentaxian economy…hence, the reason the observers in Hinata react so badly to the news of the attack by the Noukiites and Yehisrites to free the Avalonians.

Of course, the actual relations between individual Niphentaxians and Avalonians varies from person to person and from situation to situation, as will be demonstrated throughout this story.

6) Other _Urusei Yatsura_ and _The Senior Year_ character and situation notes:

The **Tag Race Treaty** concept was introduced in the _TSY_ story "Tag Race Mark Three" to serve as the official diplomatic agreement that allowed the "invasion" of Earth by Uru as depicted in the first _Yatsura_ manga story "A Good Catch" to occur in the first place. Due to Urusian political issues as depicted in _TSY_, the whole thing about Paragraph Ten was inserted in by "pro-Terran" Urusian negotiators as a way of ensuring that those who wanted to conquer Earth no matter what wouldn't get their way.

**Hifuto Syndrome** — in effect, the outer space version of **Ebola** — and its effects were first noted in the _TSY_ side story "Furinkan Spring II." This illness and its effects are described better in the stories _A Nice Quiet Place_, _Let Us Have Peace_ and _The Children of Oki-shima_.

For those who haven't read my stories in the past, **Moroboshi Negako** was once a psionic database of ninjutsu battle knowledge and memories that became a sentient being in the year 1808. I first introduced her in the _TSY_ story "Spirit-War Tomobiki." Her presence in the mind of **Moroboshi Ataru** was — as was explained in _TSY_ — the primary reason he always chased skirts and acted like an idiot; this was meant to allow Negako the chance to gain enough ki energy to create a body for herself…with Ataru not surviving the experience. Over the years since she first appeared, I've evolved Negako into a being similar to Data from _Star Trek: The Next Generation_; calling her "Earth's first true artificial intelligence" is a comment I often use to describe her these days. Because of her Taoist-driven personal beliefs and worldview, she has no use for honorifics or posthumous names whatsoever; this is the reason Negako has a problem with T'aeja addressing her as **Sŏnbae-nim** (the Korean version of "sempai" with the "-nim" honorific that is equal to the Japanese "-sama"). As an aside, the emperor Negako refers to when speaking with Kyech on the Tarōzakura Hill, **Katahito**, is the **Go-Yōzei Emperor** (lived 1571-1617, ruled 1586-1611). The term "**first year of Bunroku**" refers to the year 1592; the term "**eighth year of Keichō**" refers to the year 1603.

The members of the **Mendō Clan** of Musashino — especially siblings **Shūtarō** and **Ryōko** — are major characters from _Yatsura_. Shūtarō first appeared in the manga story "Trouble Drops In" (manga episode #23). Ryōko first appeared in the manga storyline "The Mendō Family" (manga episodes #121-122). The names applied to the siblings' parents and grandfather here are my creation. **Mendō Haruka** first appeared in "The Parents' Day From Hell" (manga episode #51). And her husband **Mendō Hajime** and father-in-law **Mendō Genjurō** both first appeared in "New Year's Party at the Mendō Mansion" (manga episode #114). Finally, the **Tarōzakura Hill** mentioned here appeared in the fourth _Yatsura_ movie _Lum The Forever_.

Finally, **Star Chamber** — formally, **Her Imperial Majesty's High Court of Star Chamber** — is the highest colonial court in the Imperial Dominion of Noukiios. In the reality of _The Senior Year_, this was the Zephyrites' highest regional religious court. As an aside, **Tengsei** (known in Noukiite as _Teng-ch'ehek_) is known in _TSY_ as **Jiyū**; in the reality of this story, this world is still called that by the Urusians and their allies as it was an Urusian who first explored this world even if the Noukiites later claimed it as one of their colonies (which is a thing the Urusians have long resented).

7) The story behind **Kyech** (**Seu-P'ye Yesu-Re Hechnich'-K'ekhech** of Ait'uch-Nehech), also known as the **Dragonspeaker** — based on the _Koihime Musō_ version of **Ryofu Hōsen** (**Ren**) — and her involvement with the Moroboshi family is best described in the flashback scene in Part 8 of _Phoenix From the Ashes_. The writer's notes of that particular part also contain an explanation of the Korean-to-Noukiite encoding system I devised long ago which allows me to come up with terms used by the latter race such as **Ch'enguop'i** as their equivalent of a tokkaebi.

As an aside, the "**Black-Haired Bandit Slayer**" and her sister that Jelina spoke of here were described in Part 17 of _PFtA_.

8) **Hichkyech'eng** is inspired by the concept of Rura Penthe from the sixth _Star Trek_ film, _The Undiscovered Country_. I also mixed into it concepts from the Cryo-Prison that appeared in the 1993 film _Demolition Man_ starring Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes; people will remember that those sentenced to the Cryo-Prison have their very minds changed around to ensure they would never re-offend on release. The name itself means "New Kyech'eng" and is named after the Noukiite analogue to the county of **Yodŏk** in South Hamgyŏng Province of North Korea. This is the site of **Penal Labour Colony #15**, one of the locations used by the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to imprison lifetime political prisoners.

9) **Urushihara Satoshi** (born 1966) is one of my favourite manga artists. He specializes in very beautiful character designs and is quite well known for his work in hentai manga. He was the character designer for anime series such as _Plastic Little_ and _Legend of Lemnear_ (he also did manga based on those shows) and he also did the character designs for the _Langrisser_ and _Growlanser_ series of tactical role-playing video games. _Kan_ — released in 2012 — was an adult manga artbook he released that was based on work he did for the _Comic Tenma_ monthly hentai manga anthology. While I personally don't condone some of the storylines often displayed in hentai anime and manga — as people might remember from my own lemon fanfic stories _The Galatea Syndrome_ and _A Remarkable Destiny_, I prefer the sex to be involved as part of a good plot — the artwork of people like Urushihara-sensei is quite spectacular. All the **Hinata Avalonians** like **Mizote Toshiko**, **Yamamoto Eriko** and **Kashiwamura Moe** who appear here — outside new members brought into their group during this story — are characters from _Kan_.

10) Translations: **Persona Non Grata** — Literally "an unwelcome person," this is the term that is always applied to those who are stripped of diplomatic status and expelled from a nation; **Cislunar** — Within the orbital sphere of the Moon; **Bōsōzoku** — Literally "violent running tribe," this is the nickname bestowed on Japanese motorcycle enthusiasts that skirt if not break traffic laws; **Ryōbo** — House Mother; **Chosŏn** — Literally "new morning," this is the term applied to the dynasty (and by extension, the kingdom itself) that ruled Korea from 1392-1910; **Seu** — Taken from the term _Seup'uk_ ("blooming youth"), this is the sub-caste family name prefix for members of Noukiios' Flower Youth; **Yesu** — Birth order given name prefix for the eldest daughter; **Hechnich'** — Shortened from _Hechnich'kye_ and meaning "Sacred True Bone Lord/Lady," this is the name prefix honorific placed before a style name; **Ait'uch Nehech** — Name of Noukiios' first world-wide ruling dynasty, which was founded five thousand years ago and collapsed two millennia later; **Hanguk** — Literally "country of the Han," this is the modern term applied to Korea (in South Korea; North Koreans still use "Chosŏn"); **Dōri** — Name suffix for a city street; **Seifuku** — "Sailor suit" uniform worn by girls attending middle and high school in Japan; **Saikō Jinseijutsu** — Literally "supreme life path," this is the name of the Moroboshi Clan's in-house school of martial arts; **Ryekkyuk** — Noukiios' oldest city and the analogue to **P'yŏng'yang** in North Korea; **NHK** — Short for _Nihon Hōsō Kyōkai_ ("Japan Broadcasting Corporation"), the national public broadcasting corporation; **Mahō-Shōgun** — Supreme General of Magic, the traditional Japanese title of what would be seen as a Minister of Magic (in the _Harry Potter_ style) in other nations; **Thoughtmistress-prime** — The Sagussan/Avalonian term used to addressed a master at a certain educational subject or the headmistress/principal of a school (for men, the term is **Thoughtmaster-prime**).

11) Koreans — even more so than Japanese — use all sorts of terms to refer to one's relatives. Even more so, different terms are used depending on the gender of the person doing the addressing. The term **Nuna** is what a _man_ in Korea uses to address his elder sister by; a _woman_ addresses her elder sister by the term **Ŏnni**. Note than in Korean, the older sibling's name is never applied with the title as is often done in Japanese. As an aside, the suffix honorific **-ya** is the Korean version of the Japanese "-chan" when applied to words or names ending in a vowel; when applied to a word or name ending in a consonant, it's **-a**. Thus, Keitarō's addressing T'aeja with "Nuna-ya" would be the equivalent of his addressing an older sister figure by "Onē-chan."

12) As indicated here, **azusayumi**, **tamagushi** and **haraegushi** are standard items used by Shintō shrine maidens (**miko**) when performing their official duties. An azusayumi ("catalpa bow") is actually a mystical instrument that is played often in certain rituals. A tamagushi ("jewel skewer") is a special type of offering created from the branch of a _sakaki_ evergreen tree that are decorated with paper, silk or cotton and are normally presented to the kami as an offering. A haraegushi — also known as an **ōnusa** — is a wooden wand decorated with **shide** (zigzagging paper streamers) that is used in cleansing rituals. Most Shintō miko are always depicted in anime and manga with a haraegushi.

13) **Yomigawa Tsukiko**, also known by the style name **Tsukuyomi-no-Tsukushi** (shortened always to "**Lady Tsukuyomi**" in English), is my own creation; she is first mentioned in _The Icemaidens and the Philosopher's Stone_. A traditional Eastern sorceress of the same vein as **Amagasaki Chigusa** from _Negima_, Tsukiko launched a devastating magical war in the late 1930s — parallel to the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific side of World War Two (also known as the "Greater East Asia War") — to overthrow the domination of the International Confederation of Wizards on traditional Oriental magic. In the _Icemaidens_ universe, she was killed in the Nagasaki atomic bombing of 9 August 1945…though it is believed she ultimately survived and is planning to return to power. In the universe of this story, the American Department of Magic — who had long advocated removing certain restrictions on traditional non-wand magic enforced by the ICW — realized what Tsukiko was ultimately after and managed to get her clear of Nagasaki before _Bockscar_ came on its fateful mission. Because of her efforts to promote traditional forms of magic, Tsukiko was exonerated after the war and officially magically pardoned by the Shōwa Emperor. These days, she is something of a recluse who lives in the mountains of Kyūshū near Nagasaki…but, as shown in _Wizards and Avalonians_, was more than happy to come teach a bright student like Harry Potter as a way of helping put an end to the threat of Voldemort.

As an aside, Tsukiko's style name is written in the classical style as "**月読筑紫**," literally meaning "one who reads the moon from Tsukushi." **Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto** is the Shintō god of the moon. The word **Tsukushi** — literally meaning "amethyst zither" — is an old name for the island of **Kyūshū** (literally "Nine Provinces"), the southwest of the Home Islands of Japan where cities like Fukuoka and Nagasaki are found. Note that the "no" part of the style name was never written out in ancient times; only when hiragana was developed in the Ninth Century C.E. that the character "**の**" came to be used. In modern Japanese, Tsukiko's style name is written "**月読の筑紫**."


	2. Keitarō Gets A Sister…and A Fiancée

Hinata-sō, Thursday 18 February, two hours before lunch…

Keitarō's eyes opened.

He was quick to sense the unbelievably soft and nude bodies of Mizote Toshiko and Yamamoto Eriko pressing against him on both sides. Fortunately for him, neither woman had insisted he take off his boxer shorts when they went to sleep; while Avalonians saw foundation garments as prudish and restrictive to one's psionic powers, they did understand that other races and cultures had their own standards of decency and did their best to honour them. While he was quite flattered right to the core of his being that both Toshiko and Eriko saw in HIM of all the men in Hinata as the perfect person to be the father of future children, both understood that he was not at **_that_** particular stage of his life. After all, he had too many other things weighing down on his mind at this time…and given how he governed his life, both women knew he would automatically insist on being a proper father in the Terran sense of the term to any children he would co-parent with any Avalonian mother.

Gazing on each of his companions, he smiled on noting that their faces were still streaked with tears of pure joy. The bioroid factory — built with warp drive by the Sagussans 14,000 years ago just in case it had to eject itself from the surface of Phentax Twelve for whatever reason — had arrived in the solar system two hours after midnight Tōkyō time, escorted by squadrons of warships from Noukiios and Yehisril whose crews were flush with their overwhelming victory against the arrogant Niphentaxians who had been the Urusians' most powerful allies…and were looking for a brawl with anyone who might be stupid enough to side with the race of copycats or their horn-headed friends and force the Avalonians back into submissive servitude for the greater good of the Galactic Federation of Planet-states. When the great ship — a virtual CITY in space that was had an internal volume of _**six hundred**_ cubic kilometres! — slipped past the orbit of the minor planet Ceres in the asteroid belt, all the Avalonians at the Hinata-sō jerked as something deep in their minds finally vanished. Once that happened, they had sunk to their knees and wept with joy on realizing that last night's insane events actually DID happen, it hadn't been a dream…and they were all truly free.

Naturally — as was common with the bioroid race in times of emotional trauma, he learned quite quickly — they proceeded to enjoy some "intimate therapy"…which had to be the _**cutest**_ term ever devised to describe consensual sex that Keitarō had ever heard in his life, moving immediately to take over all the empty rooms in the Hinata-sō so they could enjoy a couple hours' raw passion before going to sleep. Fortunately, the local police box of the Kanagawa Prefecture Police had been more than happy to provide the ladies with futons and blankets; for the next few days, their current places of residence were closed off as they were examined by mixed teams of government personnel as they tried to understand the mysterious aliens who had inserted themselves amongst the people of Japan over the last several decades to observe the daily lives of Terrans on this part of Earth.

Keitarō personally doubted that any objection towards the Avalonians would get anywhere. As soon as things had calmed down at the Hinata-sō, Yomigawa Tsukiko and Moroboshi Negako proceeded to the Kōkyo to appraise the Emperor of the bioroid race; Moroboshi Ataru's adopted elder sister also planned to give her report as to what had actually happened on Phentax Twelve that had resulted in the Avalonians' final liberation from the Niphentaxians. Politically, it was a very smart move by the last Mahō-Shōgun of Japan and Imperial Special Agent #49. As the Son of Heaven was spiritually seen as being "above the clouds" — in other words, totally apolitical and not to be bothered by the affairs of normal people — the fact that the current holder of the Chrysanthemum Throne would now take active interest in the Avalonians would make officers in various government ministries scramble like mad to accommodate his wishes.

While some people might disapprove of manipulating the government in such a manner given that the Avalonians weren't known at all to most Japanese, the fact that those bioroids who were exposed by last night's events had already gained reputations among the people of their adopted home towns for being friendly, polite, respectful and helpful to all they dealt with — yes, doing such to make their Terran neighbours never suspect their true natures, much less the reason they were here on Earth — was earning them many points of approval on the streets and in the halls of local government. Even those Avalonians in Japan patterned after natives of other nations — the Hinata group had two, an Avalonian-American named Scarlett Catharine Ryan and an Avalonian-Russian named Irina Antónovna Bellova — now living in Japan were shown to be virtual "dream foreigners," people who spoke the native language like they had been born here…which, in many cases, they literally had been! Atop that, people like Scarlett — whom Keitarō had also dated — and Irina intrinsically understood all the many social and cultural conventions that governed the natives of the Home Islands; such had been aided by their telepathy and empathy. Because of that, Minister of Justice Chiba Keiko expressed the possibility that dual citizenship for these women would be allowed once governments in other nations set their own policies concerning citizenship for their own Avalonians. While news from overseas was slow coming in — naturally, NHK and the country's other media stations were concentrating on events happening in Japan — there were reports that nations as socially and culturally diverse as the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran were seriously considering a flat-out "open doors" policy for those Avalonians who would soon seek to live amongst them.

Keitarō sighed as he pulled his girlfriends — and yes, he was comfortable thinking of people like Toshiko and Eriko as his girlfriends — closer, which made them both smile. Thanks to the tokkaebi living within the Yōkatana Hinata, he had been in on the secret of the Avalonians for two weeks. He had been personally surprised to learn of the bioroids…but quickly accepted them as people; after all, Toshiko's actions the night she put three of the residents of the Hinata-sō and Keitarō's cousin/aunt into the hospital made an excellent first impression, even for a normally indecisive fellow like him. Besides, he trusted T'aeja's judgement most of all and she had accepted the Avalonians without question.

Thinking on that, he smiled. His reliance on T'aeja's wisdom had done much to keep the peace in the Hinata-sō over the last year. It was because of her ability to scan the minds of people who came onto the grounds of the old hot springs hotel that Keitarō had not cracked down more on the behaviour of the tenants after he had been confirmed as manager…especially when the local police took notice of what often happened to him and began making loud noises about launching investigations into the affairs of the Hinata-sō, which wouldn't have ended well for people like Narusegawa Naru.

Frowning as he thought about the woman he still felt was his promise girl from his childhood — which would have made her a three year-old child when the vow to go to Tōkyō University was made — he sighed. There was a small, dark part of him who would gladly laugh at the sight of a disgraced Naru being run out of the Hinata-sō…but even thinking of such a thing for an extended period of time made him physically nauseous. Even more, T'aeja had told him that Naru felt she had no real home other than the Hinata-sō; to evict her would totally destroy her, especially now that Toshiko had badly wrecked her sense of safety when it came to her influencing the lives of the other people living at the dorms. Her parents had divorced when she was ten, her mother remarried shortly afterwards — giving Naru a stepsister six years her junior, Mei — and she had not seen her real father since. Her feelings concerning her stepfather and stepsister — whom she viewed as interlopers in her family home, people she did not want to have anything to do with — ultimately drove Naru to the Hinata-sō two years ago sometime before she started the second year of high school. While Keitarō's grandmother had done a pretty good thing in giving Naru a renewed sense of safety by allowing her to live in the dorms, Hina really hadn't done the younger girl any favours by allowing her to feel she had no responsibilities to the place.

That would have to change…and it was going to hurt Naru a lot.

Not to mention the other people who had lived in the dorms before now.

Like Naru, Konno Mitsune — they had once been sempai-kohai schoolmates throughout elementary and middle school — came from a broken home. Though her parents were, at last report, still living together in the Ikebukuro section of Tōkyō's Toshima Ward, the would-be writer was effectively a welfare baby. Neither of her parents had been able to hold steady jobs since they graduated from high school and she had grown up in a state of near-poverty; atop that, her father was a drunk and a wife-abuser and her mother was just too damned lazy and stupid — in Mitsune's own opinion — to get away from him. Because of that ugly situation, Mitsune had wanted to do everything to get away from her parents as soon as she could, which she had done with Urashima Hina's and Narusegawa Naru's help shortly after Mitsune's friend came to live at the Hinata-sō full-time; the would-be writer moved to Hinata just after she had graduated with decent marks from Chihaya High School. While it was understandable that Mitsune did want to live a better life, the woman had _never_ learned how to earn her own way in the world…which had, in part, provoked the incidents where Mitsune had conned money out of Keitarō. Atop that, there was the issue of her rent…

Kaolla Su was — and there was just no way of ignoring this anymore — a spoiled, out-of-control child. An orphan, she had lost her parents three years ago, which forced her cousin/adopted brother Lamba Lu to become the new monarch of Molmol; thanks to T'aeja and her mystical probing, Keitarō was fully in on the "Indian girl's" little secret. Since neither Lamba or Kaolla's older sister Amalla — currently the heiress apparent to the throne until Lamba had children; Keitarō knew through T'aeja that the man once promised Kaolla he would marry her, which she really didn't care for — could devote some of their own time to help raise the younger sister of the family, she had been allowed to run wild. Coming to Japan hadn't changed her. Yes, Hina did the right thing to give her a place to stay — Kaolla's family paid rent for her room — when she came to study computer and robotics technology as a way of bettering the lives of her native people…but Keitarō's grandmother hadn't done anything to make the girl understand that certain modes of behaviour weren't allowed. That would have to change drastically as well…

Maehara Shinobu also came from a broken home; her parents had been on the verge of breaking up when she first came to the Hinata-sō and were now formally divorced and moving on with their lives; these days, her father was a taxi driver and her mother worked at a local convenience store. Like she had done for Naru and Mitsune, Hina had gladly welcomed the emotionally-battered Shinobu into the dorms so she could have a safe place to stay away from her parents' bickering and coldness to each other, which had turned what had once been a warm family home into something out of darkest nightmare. Since Shinobu at least tried to be civilized when it came to her current dorm manager, Keitarō was willing to cut her some slack…though the problem of her not being asked to pay rent money — this was also the situation with Naru and Mitsune — would have to be addressed as well…

Finally, there was Aoyama Motoko. Unlike the other original tenants, she had no family problems haunting her. However, she had been selected to become the future grandmaster of the Aoyama Shinmei-ryū after her elder sister Tsuruko got married three years ago and could no longer devote all of her time to the family's traditional activities of demon-slaying and spiritual exorcism. That had been a lot to slam onto the shoulders of a young woman who had been raised in relative isolation from mainstream society. Motoko had come to Hinata as a way of escaping the pressures of being the Aoyama Shinmei-ryū heiress. And yes, Hina had been right to give her a place of shelter from the emotional turmoil of being forced to take up the flag of her family dōjō. But her attitudes towards men — exacerbated because of her sister's marriage and how that ultimately affected her life — needed some serious changing…

He sighed. Hurting people was not in Urashima Keitarō's nature. Yes, he did sometimes take things a little too far when he tried to help people — which really hadn't helped earned him friends over the years — but that had been a lesson ingrained in him from early childhood: Do all one could when someone needed help. Because of that, he was quite willing to defer to others no matter how much it came to hurt him in the long term. And while being at the Hinata-sō and being close to his "invisible big sister" again on a full-time basis had given him considerable strength to persevere in the face of his tenants' understandable objections to having a MAN as a manager, he was rapidly learning that being so forgiving wasn't going to do him any long-term favours.

Especially given the financial situation surrounding the Hinata-sō.

_Thanks a lot, Baka Obā-chan!_ he sneered to himself as he sensed Toshiko and Eriko snuggle closer to him. _Ask me to become the manager but not tell me the hotel got turned into an_ all-girls dorm house_?! Never warn the girls that a_ man _was about to become their manager?! Never even consider what_ their _feelings on the matter might have been?! Atop that, ensuring I can't get any damned money from rent to pay things like_ property taxes _and all that?! Do you actually_ **want** _to lose the Hinata-sō?!_

"We'll have to work on that."

He blinked, and then he smiled as Eriko kissed him on the lips. "Ohayō."

"Ohayō," she breathed out contently as she leaned her head on his shoulder, taking a deep inhale of his delightful musk as one of her legs pressed up against a large erection inside his boxer shorts…though she didn't push it to the point where she might cause an embarrassing accident. She knew Keitarō was still pretty shy being around very beautiful women; given how pretty Naru, Motoko and Mitsune were, his natural reaction to them had contributed a lot to the many accidents he got into around them. "Soon as we can, we need to look at the structural integrity of the building. I don't think Naru, Motoko and Kaolla have done this place any favours because of their temper-tantrums."

"Not to mention you being asked to work effectively _**alone**_ to help keep a place this size up," Toshiko mused as her eyes opened. "How big is this place again?"

"Including all the land, 34,664.45 tsubo," he answered. "The current market value of the property is 45,920,066,244 yen. If I was forced to sell it because I couldn't pay the property taxes, I'd lose a good amount of that. And given the question of who actually OWNS the damned place, I'm not sure I'd ever see the rest of it."

They nodded. Over the last two weeks — with a little empathic prodding — Eriko, Toshiko and the eleven other "older" Avalonians in the Hinata group that he had dated got a full appraisal of the legal and financial situation concerning Keitarō being asked to serve as the manager of the Hinata-sō. Technically, by the letter of the law, Urashima Hina was still the owner of the property and ultimately responsible for all financial issues with the city government such as property taxes. However, when she had left to go on her world tour, she prepared power of attorney papers that granted Keitarō the right to act in her stead when it came to the Hinata-sō…with the one caveat that _**forbade**_ him from evicting the five tenants then in residence at the time.

And while that was all on the up-and-up when it came to Japanese law, there were two problems.

The first was that Hina had done NOTHING — at least to her grandson's knowledge — to prepare any sort of funds to help pay for property taxes, which Keitarō had to ensure were in the city treasury by the start of the new fiscal year in April. Any phone calls he made to her or e-mails he sent to her asking about that had not elicited any sort of answer even to today. The people at Hinata City Hall had reported to him that the 2009 property taxes had been paid in person by Hina in cash. Since Keitarō had only two paying tenants — Motoko and Kaolla — he couldn't generate any decent funds to pay those taxes, which were quite considerable for a property the size of the Hinata-sō. Furthermore, he didn't have much in the way of personal savings to help pay for those taxes thanks in part to Mitsune. He could request a bank loan, but paying that back would be hard given that there was little revenue coming in…and he had to worry about things like building maintenance along the way. No bank manager worth their MBA degrees would approach this with a ten-metre cattle prod!

Also, when he had been given the deed to the Hinata-sō, Keitarō had been given a copy of the power of attorney papers giving him effective total control over the place. That copy, however, _didn't_ contain the notation forbidding him from evicting Naru or the others. On having this checked out later with a local lawyer — one who didn't care at all for the other members of his family, as was the case with many people in Hinata City — Keitarō learned that he could pursue a case of entrapment against his grandmother, especially when one factored in the fact that he had NOT been told ahead of time that he would be made the manager of the Hinata-sō when he had been invited to stay there…to say anything of the whole situation of his not being told that the former hotel being turned into an all-girls residence in the first place!

Without hesitation, Keitarō asked the lawyer to pursue that case…as long as things were kept secret until it was time to finally take it to court. While he did believe that the girls were smart enough to understand what was going on and move to help if they were told everything, their deep fears about losing the only safe home they ever had might make them balk at supporting Keitarō's move to become the legal owner of the Hinata-sō, thus gain the power to legally evict them if he so wanted. Atop that, they would most likely see his actions as a "selfish stab in the back" to the woman they felt they all owed so much to. Naturally, that wouldn't do.

"They'd learn it the hard way once the property was seized for failure to pay property taxes and they were thrown onto the streets at the business end of guns or riot sticks," Toshiko stated. "There's no way that old bat could sweet-talk her way out of that if it ever happened. Especially with the way people in this town feel about her."

He blinked, not bothered that she had telepathically "heard" his thoughts. "Do you know why?" he asked as he rubbed her back.

"Ultimately, it's because the town lost a lot of revenue when she turned this place into a dorm house for frightened little girls," Eriko derisively said, snorting. "When it was a hotel, businesses in Hinata were raking in the money hand-over-fist because of all the tourists that came into this place to enjoy the hot springs and could stay either here or any of the other hotels. When it became a dorm house, all that money disappeared…which didn't impress anyone at all, especially with the issues some of the girls living here had." A sigh. "I hate to break this to you, Keitarō-kun, but you have to turn this place back into a hotel again…or else get many more paying tenants than you have right now."

"You?" he asked.

Both women smiled. "You never need to ask," Eriko stated.

"And there ARE others coming," Toshiko stated. "Once we're all cleared to move into here, they can take over any empty apartment or house in Hinata. After we find ways of generating money for ourselves, we can contribute to the economy. And given there will be SEVENTY-EIGHT of us moving into the dorms versus five…"

"Four. Three if I can swing it and keep Su-san away from the place," he stated before an amused smirk crossed his face. "Pity that when she was about to be beamed to the hospital ship in that Noukiite squadron up in orbit, some 'strangers' showed up to have her taken back to her relatives. All the way in _Molmol_!" A shake of the head. "Well, isn't it too bad that Su-san's relatives are xenophobes. I can't have that here now with all you girls living here."

Both women laughed…

* * *

Over the Pacific Ocean northwest of the intersection of the Equator and the International Date Line, on a jet now approaching Molmol City King Phaeran International Airport (local time: An hour after lunch)…

"**_AH-CHOO…OWWWWW!_**"

Instantly, the crack team of medical personnel who had been caring for their wounded princess since she had been flown out of Japan — and away from those vicious-looking aliens who had undoubtedly been moving to do hideous experiments on her — moved to comfort the moaning Kaolla Su…

* * *

The Hinata-sō, lunchtime…

"Heaven's most sincere blessings upon you, Master Keitarō."

Keitarō blinked on hearing that formal greeting with its accented voice, and then he bowed politely to the Noukiite Imperial Marine lieutenant who was the commander of the platoon of riflemen patrolling the grounds of the Hinata-sō. "Konnichi wa, Chūi-san," he returned in Japanese; the Noukiites all had universal translators inserted into their brains, so he would understand him. "How were things last night?"

The muscular yet slender man with the red hair and the deep green eyes — Keitarō couldn't, for the life of him, remember the wordy phrase that marked the lieutenant's personal name — smiled. "The natives of this beautiful spa village were understandably afraid of us when we came in to sweep the copycats out…but after the reports of the annihilation device buried in Tomobiki was revealed on your news broadcasts, they became quite grateful for our intervention." A rueful chuckle. "Many here still keep mistaking us as Klingons. I'm familiar with the great work of the late Master Bard Gene Roddenberry. Believe me, the Yehisrites are far more like the natives of Qo'nos than we'll ever be."

Keitarō laughed. "Did you get breakfast?" he then asked.

"We still have our field rations…though the Young Mistress Shinobu and her beautiful heart-mate, the Lady Moe, were happy to provide some tea for us." The lieutenant then flustered before he added in a whisper, "Please don't tell Mistress Shinobu this, but your green tea is too flat-tasting for us. We had to add our own red pepper powder to it to spice it up."

"Well, I'll mention that you prefer to spice up your tea as much as you do the food you eat." Keitarō had tried some of the food the Noukiites had brought in for the Hinata-sō's new guests. It reminded him a lot of Korean food — especially the heavy chilli pepper-like spices inside it — but it was good. "That won't hurt her."

A bow responded. "You are too courteous to me, Master Keitarō."

"Which has always been one of Keitarō-kun's many better points, Chūi-san."

Both turned as a middle-aged man in casual clothes came up from the main gate, escorted by a Noukiite corporal with his rifle — a Peacemaker, Keitarō had heard the deadly particle-proton beam assault carbine was called — slung over his right shoulder. "My Lieutenant, I present to you and Master Keitarō the Lord Mayor of His Imperial Majesty's Loyal Spa Village of Hinata, Master Takada Tamasuke," he declared with the left fist-in-open right palm salute the Noukiites used when they greeted each other.

Keitarō bowed as the lieutenant saluted the just-arrived mayor. "Lord Mayor Tamasuke, may your guidance over this beautiful village bear great fruit to all who live here," the latter declared formally. "I would assume you are here to see Master Keitarō?"

"I am," Mayor Takada stated with a blush; he was just NOT used to the levels of classical ritual formality these Noukiites expressed so readily.

"Right this way, sir," Keitarō stated as he waved the older man inside. "We'll have to go into the Detached Hall to talk. The two ladies I spent time with last night are still resting off what happened to them with the bioroid factory arrived."

An amused twinkle flashed in the mayor's eyes. "Good for you, son. Much that I admire your devotion to your goals of getting into Tōdai and finding this promise girl of yours — I overheard Hina talk about that once not so long ago — it's not healthy to turn such a quest into a blinding obsession that destroys your life eventually." He shook his head as they ascended from the lobby to the second floor. "I just can't believe that both your parents and your grandmother didn't try to make you see that concentrating on something like that over everything else would hurt you."

His host sighed. "Well, after I failed the Centre Test the first time and Baka Kā-san began making noises about throwing me out of the house, trying to get into Tōdai and finding my promise girl was the only dream I could hang onto." A chuckle then escaped Keitarō. "Ironically, I may have found her. She's a girl down in Okinawa called Otohime Mutsumi. She said she had stayed here when she was a child. We're both fans of _Liddo-kun's Big Adventure_ — so's Narusegawa-san, by the way — but Otohime-san is almost a year older than me. If I supposedly made the promise to Narusegawa-san, she would've been three years old."

"Oh, fan of Liddo-kun, eh?" The mayor cackled. "Like the series myself even if I would be seen as too old to watch it; watched it with the kids…"

"Ara! Sempai!"

Both stopped as Shinobu came up from the banquet hall. "How's Moe-chan?" Keitarō asked.

"Asleep right now and wishing I was there with her," Shinobu confessed before she gazed on the mayor, and then her eyes widened in recognition. "Oh! Your Honour!"

A chuckle responded. "Nice to see you again, Shinobu-chan," Mayor Takada stated as they exchanged bows, and then he gazed on Keitarō, sensing the question he wanted to ask. "My youngest daughter is a classmate of her's and Moe-chan's. She was shocked to learn Moe-chan's an Avalonian."

"What does she think of it?" Keitarō asked.

"Actually, she thinks it's really neat. Eriko-san tutors her in mathematics and she's improved her grades quite well because of it." The mayor then winked. "Must be that empathy of theirs…but don't quote me on that." As the others laughed, he sighed. "Before you go run off to be with your girlfriend, could I trouble you for a spot of coffee for myself and your landlord, Shinobu-chan? We have some vital things to discuss and we'll need all the caffeine we can get into us for that."

"Sure!"

"It's alright, Shinobu. You go be with Moe. I'll make the coffee."

Shinobu turned. "Makoto-sempai…"

Approaching them now from the direction of the banquet hall was a beautiful, busty and tall twenty-something. Given her centre-parted blonde hair that went to the base of her shoulder blades and her blue eyes, one would instantly mistake Tsutsumi Makoto as a Westerner…though her face was properly Oriental. "It's alright," the clerk from the local branch of Mizuho Bank stated as she tenderly kissed Shinobu on the cheek, which made the younger girl blush. "Moe needs some intimacy now that the genetic lock on her is broken finally. She sees you as her future bond-mate. She needs you."

Shinobu blinked, and then she nodded before parting from the others. "Is it really that bad?" Mayor Takada asked as he gazed on Makoto.

She sighed. "Moe's young. She's lucky that the genetic lock that made her subservient to her master helped blunt the triggering of her _marei'cha_ desires for Shinobu. I'm hoping that as soon as we can, we can get at the non-templated bodies still in storage in the basement of Karan's home. As soon as we help Shinobu through a body-swap, she'll understand fully what Moe's gone through and reciprocate."

The mayor blinked. "Will that hurt her?"

"It won't," Keitarō asserted. "All it will do is — atop giving Shinobu-chan an Avalonian lifespan — help her develop the same type of telepathy and empathy Moe-chan has. Not to mention the sense of this Te'a they all can see with their mind's eye." He then chuckled as he moved to allow Makoto — who had also dated him — to lean against him. "She'll also be a lot more sure of herself than she has been for a long while. Sort of like what Makoto-san and her friends started doing to me with their empathy since I started dating them." As she blushed, he gazed on her with a look of gratitude. "I was moving at a snail's pace when it came to the court case I wanted to pursue to get ownership of the Hinata-sō. Once they learned of what I was planning to do, they all told me to stop procrastinating and just get on with it."

A cackle responded. "Well, maybe we can make these ladies happy today!" the mayor stated. "Now, please, Makoto-san, some coffee! You might want to listen in to this as well."

Keitarō's current companion smirked. "Hai!" Makoto affirmed with a nod before she headed off…

* * *

The Detached Hall, minutes later…

"Toranoseishin Finances?"

"Hai," Mayor Takada stated. Everyone was relaxing at the table in the middle of the Detached Hall enjoying coffee and snacks. "You don't know this, son, but that group — and it's primary bank, Inshin — is owned by your friend Moroboshi Ataru's family. Technically, it's under the stewardship of his uncle Komeru. However — almost like your family in a way — the members of Ataru-kun's family aren't really cordial with each other these days."

"He's told me about his parents," Keitarō stated with a scowl. "Selfish idiot for a mother who'd sell him off in an instant if it gave her a better life, not to mention a completely spineless wimp for a father who bows to everything his wife wants. What's worse, they blame Ataru for all their troubles…when both of them were NINETEEN when they had him. That's a little young to have kids, don't you think?"

Makoto shook her head. "I hope Ataru-kun leaves that place."

"Ditto. I'd offer him and Negako-san a place here if they wanted to come down."

"Well, that may not be actually necessary," the mayor stated. "There's a lot more going on with Ataru-kun's family than you know, Keitarō-kun. Turns out that Ataru-kun actually had a twin brother, Kaeru, who was the favoured child." As Keitarō and Makoto gaped, the mayor sighed. "Sadly, the poor boy died when he was three. It ripped that whole family apart. I suspect Negako-sama's already told Ataru-kun and his sisters about this." As the others nodded — it had been reported back in January that Ataru had THREE distinct souls beyond his own in his head; the news media hadn't yet got any detailed information on the Terran tag champion's other sisters beyond their names, Tariko and Hiromi — he sighed. "Getting back to what I was saying, Toranoseishin will be willing to float a loan to you to pay for the property taxes for both this year and next year. You'll have a grace period to pay it back…but given that you'll be getting a tonne of new tenants in this place very soon, I suspect you'll get it paid back real quickly. I told the people in Tomobiki about the whole issue of what Hina didn't tell you when she signed power of attorney over this place to you last spring. They immediately declared that they would also financially support any move you make to become the legal owner of the property. That can also be paid back within a reasonable period of time." He smirked. "Now, thanks very much to Toshiko-san's brother — much that I personally would abhor acts like that — the four main stumbling blocks towards you pursuing this without Hina finding out are conveniently out of the way…"

"There is his cousin in the café," Makoto warned.

"If she doesn't want to lose her tea shop license, she'll stay quiet," Mayor Takada icily warned. "She's going to have to learn that people in this town don't particularly care for her family — you excepted, son — and their way of running roughshod over people."

"Why is that, anyway?" Keitarō asked. "I mean, I understand the resentment all the business owners felt when this place was turned from a hotel into a dorm house. But there's a lot more to this than just that; Toshiko-san and the others have sensed it."

A sad smile crossed the older man's face.

"It was because of a potential act of murder, son."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"**_EXCUSE ME?!_**" a wide-eyed Keitarō snapped.

A confirming nod responded. "What do you know of tōshi?"

He blinked before he relaxed himself. "Not that much, really. I've heard all the rumours about them, but they're just rumours. Never met any tōshi. Why?"

"Well, forty years ago, your granduncle — Hina's elder brother Kyōsuke — fell in love with a beautiful women named Dō Karumi. 'Tōgai Shisai' as her battle name went." At Keitarō's nod, the mayor added, "Lovely girl. I had a crush on her myself, but she chose Kyōsuke in the end." A chuckle. "Couldn't deny her that, I guess. She was about your age when this all happened as I recall." He sighed. "Since Kyōsuke was the elder child, he would be seen as the future head of family. Hina didn't care for Kyōsuke having an affair with a _**tōshi**_ of all things. He wouldn't listen to her no matter how hard she tried to convince him to break it off. Then one day, Karumi-san vanished. She was last seen here at the Hinata-sō. Police tried to find her, but couldn't locate a body or any sign of what happened to her. It destroyed the man." He sighed. "That's when people here began to suspect that Hina had a hand in what happened to Karumi-san."

Silence fell as Keitarō took a moment to absorb that bombshell — hell, _**atomic bomb**_! — that had just got dropped on his head. He knew his grandmother was capable of quite a lot; the whole business about the falsified power of attorney papers proved that…to say anything about her not warning either him or the old tenants of the Hinata-sō about his coming to the dorm to become the new manager.

But MURDER?!

Even if Dō Karumi was a tōshi — whom many people in Japan, especially in Kantō, avoided like the plague — she didn't deserve to have THAT happen to her!

Especially if she was in love with Keitarō's own granduncle!

"What happened to Ō'oji-san?" he then asked. "I've never been told about him."

"As I said, he disintegrated, son. Eventually died sometime a couple years later. Hina took over as head of the family." The mayor sighed. "Now, did she do it — IF she did it! — to steal the Urashima family property from him? No. I think that if she did arrange for Karumi-san to die, it was solely because of her being a tōshi. Which is really funny given that once they're clear of high school, they live pretty normal lives, totally free of this 'fate of the magatama' curse people say governs their destiny." He shook his head. "I'm not surprised you weren't told about this, son. The whole thing with Karumi-san was quite the embarrassment to your family. People who were here when it happened still believe Hina killed her or arranged to have her killed. That's where the mistrust with your family really got started. Now, you're not blemished by this since you are a decent fellow and you're seen by many as yet another victim of Hina's playing chess with people's lives. Your tenants — despite the disgust many feel at the actions of Narusegawa, Aoyama and Su — are also seen as Hina's victims. As for your cousin in the café, I can't say. Still…"

"Is there any remnant of her DNA anywhere, Your Honour?" Makoto then asked.

He perked. "What do you mean, Makoto-san?"

"If we can get a clear reading of Karumi-san's DNA profile, we can use our technology to find her remains…or her if she's still alive," Makoto stated. "Let's put this whole question to rest right now. We need to find her to prove if murder did happen."

The mayor shook his head. "I doubt we can contact relatives…"

"There's actually an easier way to find out."

Eyes locked on Keitarō. "How?" Makoto asked before she gaped. "Oh…!"

He smiled as he reached out towards the west side of the room. Sitting on a beautiful rack nailed to the wall was an ornate katana in the Masamune style, possessing a solid black saya and a beautifully decorated tsuka with a well-crafted tsuba and dark red tsuka-ito silk wrapped lovingly around the grip, forming perfectly-shaped diamond breaks in the pattern for the menuki to be fitted so the tsuka would be affixed to the underlying nakago. As the mayor watched wide-eyed, the sword began to glow with a deep purple fire as it levitated itself off the koshirae it had been sitting on, drifting serenely over to land neatly in his hand. Instantly, that purple fire enveloped him as his grey eyes began to glow. "_**Your questions concerning Karumi-ya are about to be answered, Tamasuke-ya**_," he declared in a haunting, female-tinged voice.

He gasped. "T'aeja-sama…!"

"_**Follow me.**_"

With that, all stood up…

* * *

Minutes later, under the Hinata-sō…

"This was all built to protect people from pirates?" Makoto asked.

"_**It was**_," Keitarō/T'aeja answered as a small group of people made their way down the central corridor of a vast network of tunnels laid out at least fifteen metres below the surface of the property. "_**Also used during the late war as a place of shelter from the bombing raids the Miguk-saram launched against this land. These days, Kaolla-ya uses this place as a storage space for all her inventions…which will, of course, be sent back to her little island kingdom as soon as we legally can do that!**_"

Mayor Takada chuckled. "I'm actually working on a way to have that girl declared _persona non grata_ with the prefecture government right now, T'aeja-sama. Much that many could excuse Narusegawa's and Aoyama's actions, that girl…!"

The possessed landlord chuckled as s/he waved her/his hand. "_**Well, if you desire any further proof as to Kaolla-ya's need to have proper discipline enforced on her, Tamasuke-ya, look right here**_," s/he then bade as solid rock doors slid open.

People then looked inside before their jaws dropped in shock. "Lyna! If she wasn't such a brat when it comes to Keitarō-kun, I'd admire that girl's genius!" Mizote Toshiko stated as her eyes danced over what was stored there: Home-built computers, portable weapons systems, a robot the size of a very large dog that strongly resembled Onsen Tamago, the hot springs turtle hatchling that Keitarō had been given by Otohime Mutsumi…and to top it all off, something that looked like a human-sized power suit!

A Noukiite sergeant — who had come with three riflemen down to the tunnels to ensure the living angel within the Yōkatana Hinata, much less her spiritual younger brother, would not come to harm — then bowed respectfully to the possessed Keitarō, giving her a hand salute. "My Lady T'aeja, would you wish us to destroy these objects? Seeing as they were obviously built here without the permission of Master Keitarō, their presence…"

"_**Leave them be**_," Keitarō/T'aeja bade. "_**Tamasuke-ya needs them intact to present evidence to his own superiors as to Kaolla-ya's actions here to declare her unfit to reside within this land without any sort of competent adult supervision.**_"

A deep bow was made in response to that command. "As you command, My Lady."

Everyone then moved on. "_**Now, where is she…?**_" the possessed manager then trilled out as s/he looked around with both her/his eyes and mage sight.

"**_Miss T'aeja…?_**"

Everyone gasped as that strange voice with its mixture of French and Japanese accents echoed all over them. "What in Lyna's name was THAT?!" Eriko cried out.

An amused laugh answered her. "_**One of my local cousins, Eriko-ya. Don't be afraid of her.**_" With that, Keitarō/T'aeja walked to the sealed entrance of another room before drawing out the Yōkatana. With a single swipe of the blade, the stone door crumbled into a pile of dust. As the others with her/him gaped in awe at such a display of power, s/he then sheathed the katana before holding out her/his free hand. "_**Come here, you!**_"

"**_MISS T'AEJA!_**"

A blonde-haired blur that stood only up to Keitarō's hip slammed into the possessed manager, swamping her/him with an embrace. Everyone then realized said blur was actually a beautiful bisque porcelain doll dressed in clothing that would seem right for a Western girl from the late Meiji years. Of course, all the Avalonians were quick to sense that this being was as powerful psionically as their possessed friend, which made her a tsukumogami of some sort. "_**How are you, Moé-ya?**_" Keitarō/T'aeja gently asked as s/he allowed the doll to rub her forehead against hers/his.

A cute giggle answered him/her. "_**Glad that you're here now! Who's this?**_" Moé then asked as she gazed on the body her spiritual cousin was now using. "**_He looks like Mister Keisuke._**"

"**_Actually, this is Keisuke-ya's great-grandson, Keitarō-ya. He sort of adopted me as his older sister since his family turned out to be silly idiots._**"

A frown crossed the doll's face. "**_Mister Keisuke wouldn't like that, I think._**"

"_**Indeed so. That's why we're here: To help the lady who could have been Keisuke-ya's daughter-in-law get out of what that silly daughter of his put her into.**_"

Moé gasped. "_**Really?!**_" She then looked down. "_**That's good.**_"

"What do you mean, Moé-san?" Makoto asked; as the doll seemed to act like a child, it didn't make sense to the bank clerk to be more formal with her.

"_**Well, ever since she was brought here — I don't know if she came down here willingly or not — she's always been moaning for a Mister Kyōsuke to come get her out**_," Moé explained. "**_But her voice has become really weak over the last while…it's so hard to tell time down here, anyway…I don't know if she'll be okay when you find her…_**"

A tired sigh escaped the possessed manager holding her. "**_Here, Makoto-ya…hold her_**," Keitarō/T'aeja ordered as s/he handed Moé to Makoto. With that, the possessed manager stormed off down the hall. Turning a corner, s/he stopped before another sealed door, one which had a string of ofuda and shide vines draped over it. Narrowing her/his eyes to make a scan of the wards over this door with mage sight, Keitarō/T'aeja snorted. "_**What an idiot…using her own BLOOD to block this place off?! Too bad for her.**_" And with that, s/he drew the Yōkatana, charging the blade with a frightening level of magic before s/he made a simple cross-cut to sever all the defences with one single blow!

* * *

Spa, Belgium (ninety kilometres east-southeast of Brussels), that moment (local time: Approaching dawn)…

A scream of blood-curling agony bellowed through the closed doorway of one of the rooms at l'Hôtel Cardinal, which made one of the night clerks who had been doing a check of the guest rooms yelp before he drew out a master key and moved to unlock the door. "Ms. Urashima!" he called out in English, knocking on the door. "Are you alright?!"

Hearing no answer, he opened the door and looked in, flipping on the light…before his eyes went wide with horror on seeing the shuddering form of Urashima Hinata on the floor beside her bed, a pool of her own blood forming around her face.

Instantly, he hit the crash alarm on his belt as he sprinted in to give first aid…

* * *

The Hinata-sō, two hours later…

"**_EH?! OBĀ-CHAN TRIED TO KILL OFF HER SISTER-IN-LAW?!_**"

The mayor of Hinata chuckled as he waved down a wide-eyed Maehara Shinobu, who was being comforted by a white-faced Kashiwamura Moe as they sat around the small table in the Detached Hall. Also present was Mizote Toshiko, who was handling coffee duty since Tsutsumi Makoto and Yamamoto Eriko were busy in the main banquet hall. "Well, Karumi-san wasn't actually married to Kyōsuke-san when this happened to her," he stated. "I don't know if he actually proposed to her before she disappeared; he never told me about that. None the less, it's clearly obvious that Kyōsuke-san's _sister_…" — Shinobu was quick to sense the disgust in his voice on saying that word — "…didn't care at all for him marrying a _tōshi_ of all things, so she obviously decided to do something about it." He sighed before sipping his coffee. "It's fortunate that Karumi-san had the sheer willpower and ki control to keep herself alive — even if she was in something of a sort of stasis — all this time until T'aeja-sama got her out of there." He tried not to make a face on recalling the ghastly sight inside the room in the underground tunnels where Dō Karumi had been trapped for decades.

No matter the wonderful miracle about to happen to the poor woman as he spoke, he personally would have nightmares about that scene for months to come.

As she took a moment to absorb that, Shinobu could only shake her head. Like the other original tenants, she viewed Urashima Hina as a favourite adopted grandmother, a kind figure who had come to their aid in their time of need, giving them a safe place to live away from the troubles that haunted their home lives. Also like them, she didn't understand at first why Hina would allow a MAN — grandson or no — to become the new manager of the Hinata-sō when she headed off on her world tour to celebrate her retirement. Over time, Shinobu came to believe that Hina had actually made a smart decision bringing Keitarō here to replace her as manager; despite his acute clumsiness, bad luck and the fact that he had lied about actually being a Tōdai student at the start, he was a nice and wonderful man at heart, always willing to believe the best in people. And while he was clearly getting tired of the others' antics around him — as the events of the last two weeks glaringly showed — Keitarō also wanted everyone inside the Hinata-sō to succeed in life and would gladly do anything, no matter what the cost, to help them achieve that.

Indeed, Hina had chosen right to bring Keitarō in to replace her as manager.

But to believe that wise and kind lady had done something like THIS…!

"Is Karumi-sempai alright?" Shinobu then asked.

The mayor nodded. "Yes. Incredible as this will sound to you, she was able to focus all her ki into keeping herself alive. According to T'aeja-sama, she could have possibly remained in that place for another ten years before…well…"

A shaky nod from the other girl. "What will happen to her?" she then asked. "Karumi-sempai disappeared in the forty-fifth year of Shōwa. This is the twenty-second year of Heisei. She's got FORTY years to catch up on, never mind that all her friends would be old enough physically to be her parents if not grandparents."

"Well, since no one ever declared her dead _in absentia_, she's still legally alive. I can get the police to close off the missing person's case concerning her…if, of course, she doesn't want to pursue charges of attempted murder against Keitarō-kun's grandmother." As Shinobu slightly winced on hearing that, Mayor Takada sighed. "I know you still think well of Hina, Shinobu-chan. It's more than understandable. But like it or not, what we're dealing with right now is actual fact."

Shinobu nodded before she gazed at him. "You hate Obā-chan, don't you?"

"Not hate," he admitted. "But whatever respect I had for her began to fade because of the situation with Karumi-san…and disappeared totally when she turned this place into a dorm house for you and your friends. That act nearly gutted out the town's economy." As Shinobu gasped, the mayor sighed. "You girls have been isolated from the outside world far too much living here. What Hina did to you all hurt you badly. Did you know that if Keitarō-kun was not able to pay the property taxes for this place by the first of April, we would have had no choice but to seize the property and evict you all?"

Shinobu gaped — she knew about property taxes; her father had always complained about that sort of thing — before she felt a surge of support from Moe. "Because there're only two paying tenants here, right?" she then asked. "Motoko-sempai and Su-san?"

A nod answered her. "Yes. Also, Hina hid something from Keitarō-kun when she gave him the power of attorney to take over as manager of this place." Here, Mayor Takada blinked as he considered how to break this to her, and then he smiled. "Shinobu-chan, if you were the manager of the Hinata-sō and someone — say Su-san — did something that badly hurt the other tenants or badly damaged the property, what would you do?"

"I'd get her to repair it and make sure she wouldn't do that again."

"What if she refused? Or started to get worse?"

Shinobu blinked before she sighed. "I'd have to evict her from the dorm since she obviously didn't care about this place or the people living here. Possibly call the police on her as well."

He nodded. "Hina gave Keitarō-kun a falsified power of attorney statement when she sent him the deed to the Hinata-sō. In the power of attorney statement she registered with the city — which is the accepted legal document — he was _**forbidden**_ from evicting any of you from the Hinata-sō for any reason." Here, the mayor crossed his arms. "Now, we both know that Keitarō-kun is a forgiving sort of person…but even he has his limits. When he found out his grandmother effectively _**lied**_ to him, much less didn't provide anything towards paying the property taxes since he only has two paying tenants, he launched a legal challenge in court to have full ownership of the property turned over to him."

Shinobu gasped. Like many Japanese, she viewed actually taking something to court as an act that was to be avoided at all costs unless it was absolutely necessary in cases of serious crimes like murder. To actually do that for minor affairs was seen by many as a failure of the community to resolve issues to the satisfaction of all parties, thus maintaining peace and harmony. Also, the very idea of Urashima Hina being challenged legally — and by her own grandson to boot! — for the ownership of the Hinata-sō made her want to cry; even now after hearing about what happened to Dō Karumi, Shinobu still wanted to see Hina in the best light possible.

But given what the mayor just told her…!

"So what would happen if Sempai does become the owner of the dorm?" she then asked.

"He can then do whatever he feels is right to make the property viable again without any restrictions save for the letter of the law," Mayor Takada stated. "He originally intended to turn this place back into a hotel again. But with Toshiko-san, Moe-chan and the others now involved, I think this place will become a hostel for Avalonians now wanting to seek a new life for themselves here in Japan." To Toshiko. "Would you want to live here, Toshiko-san?"

"Of course I would," the motorcycle enthusiast stated with a nod. "I have my own bank account and savings from work I've done modifying people's motorcycles and scooters on my own. I could easily open my own garage if I wanted to. Atop that, my brother has quite a large bank account of his own. I don't know what the government will do with it, but…"

Everyone then perked as the main door opened, revealing a dazed-looking Keitarō. "Sempai!" Shinobu called out as Toshiko moved over to help him sit down.

"What's…oh, Lyna!" Toshiko stated as she sensed something very life-changing surging through the manager of the Hinata-sō. "You okay, Keitarō?"

"Is this what happens to you all when you first wake up?" he weakly moaned.

Both Toshiko and Moe smiled in sympathy. "Yes, it is," the former answered. "So, did your 'Nuna-ya' accept the idea of finally getting her own body?"

A smirk crossed the landlord's face. "She didn't really have a choice," he confessed. "Thanks to what Master Hosan did to her when he stopped my ancestor from killing off the Go-Yōzei Emperor and his family, she had no way of assuming humanoid form like other tokkaebi can do. It…"

He — not to mention the two pure-born Avalonians — then jerked as a wave of sheer psionic POWER surged through them from the direction of the banquet hall. "Sempai!" Shinobu gasped on seeing Keitarō turn sheet-white. "What is it?! What's wrong?!"

"Damn!" Moe breathed out. "If T'aeja-sama is like THAT…!"

Her girlfriend gazed at her. "WHAT?!"

Suddenly, the exploding waves of energy assaulting their minds faded, which made Keitarō breathe out in relief. "What's happening?" Mayor Takada then demanded.

A wan smile answered him. "Nuna-ya is now human, Your Honour," the manager of the Hinata-sō then said. "I've got a REAL sister now." A snort. "Much better than I had before…"

Shinobu blinked in confusion…

* * *

Hayama (northwest of Hinata), that moment…

"**_AH-CHOO!_**"

"Bless you, Kanako!" Urashima Nanako called out. "Are you alright?!"

A raven-haired, brown-eyed girl of sixteen in gothic clothing — for public safety reasons, school had been called off for today and tomorrow all over Japan in the wake of what had just happened concerning the Niphentaxians and the Avalonians — moaned as she rubbed her nose. "Someone's talking about me, Okā-san," Nanako's adopted daughter Kanako moaned.

Hearing that, the co-owner of the Urashima Candy Shoppe smiled as she turned back to her cooking; many businesses in Japan were also closed because of the issue with the aliens. Watching Nanako work, Kanako — who had resented it when Keitarō was forced out of the house because of his failure to pass the Centre Test a second time — scowled before she turned back to her homework. Much that she understood why her parents would want Keitarō to finally make a life for himself, that they had done THAT to him was a virtual guarantee that if ever something happened that would force Nanako and her husband Mashiro to seek out their son's assistance, he probably would refuse them.

While it was seen as proper in Japan to respect and honour one's parents, being effectively ABANDONED by those self-same parents was the perfect way to DESTROY that respect.

Sighing as she heard the telephone in her parents' bedroom ring, she then wistfully smiled as she remembered the promise her Onii-chan made to her years ago about running the Hinata-sō together as husband and wife; since she had been adopted by Nanako and Mashiro into the Urashima family, Kanako wasn't blood-related to Keitarō, so there would ultimately be no moral or legal problems. Despite her parents warning her to not go over to Hinata to visit her brother, Kanako had — through friends who lived there that attended the Ōgusu Seminar in Hinata's north end — kept herself abreast of what had happened there over the last year. Learning that the monsters that had been living there had been abusing Keitarō just because he was a man made her seethe…although she had recently heard of Mizote Toshiko and what she had done to humble them all two weeks ago. While Kanako did feel a ping of jealousy over the fact that Keitarō had been openly dating Toshiko — she had seen a picture of the tomboyish biker and was understandably envious of such an attractive woman being so close to her Onii-chan — and some of her friends, she did like the fact that he seemed to be finally turning away from pursuing this "promise girl" that Keitarō had obsessed…

"**_WHAT?!_**"

Nanako and Kanako gasped on hearing that shocked voice, and then the former walked towards the master bedroom to look in. "What's wrong?!" she called out.

Kanako got up to join her as she heard her father say, "Thank you for telling me that, Ten'nosuke-san. Please keep us informed of what's happening. Hai. Ja ne." By the time she got to the doorway, Mashiro had hung up the phone, a stunned look on his face.

"What is it?" Nanako asked.

The middle-aged confectionery owner sighed. "Okā-chan just had a stroke. She's in the hospital in Spa right now. They're not sure if she'll make it or not."

His wife and daughter both gasped…

* * *

The Hinata-sō, the Detached Hall…

The door opened again, making people perk before they turned. On seeing who was now stepping in, a wide-eyed Shinobu could only gape in awe. "Sempai's sister is so beautiful!"

Walking into the room was a woman who — thanks to a blood sample provided by Keitarō applied to a non-templated Avalonian body — looked as if she was actually the manager's own fraternal twin sister: Shaggy dark brown hair styled a little longer than the way he wore his and eyes the grey of a raging typhoon behind reading glasses on a face that was quite beautiful to gaze upon though not the perfect type of beauty Toshiko or Moe had. She was now dressed in a modern-day version of a commoner's hanbok from Korea, with the dark grey ch'ima only going up to her waist (and not her breasts as was done in the more formal model of clothing) and the red-brown chŏgori extending down all the way to the hips in lieu of just to below the breasts, trimmed in black at the ends of the sleeves and around the collars and front opening. In one hand was the Yōkatana Hinata, the sword appearing to have not been damaged after the soul that had resided within it for nearly five centuries had been removed. Before anyone could say anything, the newcomer lifted her hand, allowing the katana to float away, returning to its proper resting place in the rack nailed to the western wall.

"T'aeja-sama…!" Mayor Takada whispered with reverence.

She smiled. "Actually, Tamasuke-ya, I believe you best call me 'Taeko' now," she said, her voice sounding quite normal even if it had a beautiful lilt that marked her origins in the hills of Kyŏnggi-do surrounding modern-day Sŏul. "Urashima Taeko. Keitarō-ya chose my new name."

"A crime was committed against Nuna-ya by my ancestor, Urashima Tadaoki, who was a retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi during the first stages of the Imjin War against Chosŏn," Keitarō added as he gazed on Shinobu, sensing her wanting to ask questions about his new sister. "He was the one who — impressed by the strong steel that composed it — took a fireplace poker from the home of a nobleman who lived in the hills to the southeast of Hansŏng and brought it with him back to Japan. Shortly after he lost his katana at Sekigahara, he had a sword-smith reshape the poker into a proper katana." He waved to the Yōkatana. "Of course, he didn't realize that Nuna-ya had awoken inside it…"

"So I possessed him when I got the opportunity and expressed my deep displeasure at being treated like that," Taeko finished with a twinkle of amusement in her eyes. "Unfortunately, almost all of Kyōto didn't survive the experience."

"That was the Great Fire of 1603," Keitarō added.

Shinobu winced. That particular fire had been one of the worst disasters in Japanese history because of how close it came to wiping out everyone who lived in the imperial city, including the Go-Yōzei Emperor and his family. "That was YOU, Taeko-sempai?!"

"Shinobu-ya, how would you feel if Kaolla-ya turned you into a cyborg without your permission?" the newly-woken Avalonian-Korean former tokkaebi asked.

The younger girl stopped, and then she nodded in understanding. Much that she did like Kaolla Su as a person thanks to the Molmolite princess' friendly and playful nature, her willingness to do weird experiments regardless of how much damage those experiments unleashed — especially when it came to Keitarō — really annoyed her. "You have a point there." She then smiled as she walked over to gently embrace Taeko. "Now Sempai has a real family!" she then breathed out as her eyes teared with joy.

Taeko smiled as she returned that hug. "I take it, Tamasuke-ya, you told her some things?" she then asked as she gazed upon the mayor of Hinata.

A nod responded. "Hai, T'aeja-…" He caught himself before bowing in apology to the reborn guardian spirit of the Hinata-sō. "Gomen ne, Taeko-sama!" He shook his head. "She's young to face that sort of thing…but she's strong, too."

"She's always been strong," Keitarō stated with a grin.

Shinobu blushed. "Sempai…"

As Moe and Toshiko laughed, the manager of the Hinata-sō then cleared his throat. "Your Honour, I have a small request to make."

Mayor Takada perked. "What's that, son?"

"That along with what we're doing now to secure the future of the Hinata-sō, that I be legally removed from the _koseki_ of the Urashima Clan of Hayama…and placed, with Nuna-ya here, in a new _koseki_ for the Urashima Clan of _**Hinata**_," Keitarō said, a mirthless grin crossing his face. "Imagine the look on Hina's face when she finds out that not only did she lose her precious dorm house…but her _**grandson**_ as well."

The mayor blinked, and then he cackled. "I'll get that started right away…eh?!"

People perked as footfalls echoed from outside the door, and then they turned as a beautiful blonde Caucasian woman with deep blue-grey eyes — looking to be about the same age as Narusegawa Naru — stepped into the Detached Hall. She was dressed in a frilly white blouse, burgundy vest and calf-length beige skirt. In her hand was the beautiful clockwork doll that had once held the soul of the tsukumogami known to others as "Moé." Accompanying her was a smiling Tsutsumi Makoto. "Moé-san…" Keitarō whispered.

As Shinobu's girlfriend blinked on hearing that, Makoto giggled. "Well, since we're going to have a problem wondering who's who between Thoughtmistress-prime Taeko's friend and Shinobu-chan's bond-mate, let's settle that now," the bank clerk stated with a wink. "It turns out that our new sister's real name was 'Moem' when she was first created at the start of the last century. But that name…"

"Actually was an acronym," the Avalonian-French ex-doll finished, her voice possessing a beautiful Parisian accent even if she spoke Japanese fluently. Nodding her thanks as Toshiko came over to take her old body from her to place on the mantle over the fireplace near where the Yōkatana Hinata now sat, she added, "When I was first created in 1902, those who were responsible for me couldn't decide what name I should have. So they combined the initials of their choices — Maria Odette Emmanuelle Madeleine — into the word 'Moem.' When Mister Keisuke purchased me, he shortened 'Moem' to 'Moé'…but since Miss Makoto insists on my having a proper name, I am now Maria Odette Emmanuelle Madeline Eiffel." She bowed her head in greetings.

Makoto, Toshiko and Moe all clapped in response to that as all the others laughed and cheered. "Well, all we have to do now is decide which name we'll call you by," Keitarō stated as he walked over to gently kiss her on the cheek. "Um…?"

A demure smile as she moved to snuggle against him. "Maria, Mister Keitarō." she said. "It was the name the man who gave my old body its gears gave me: Gustave Eiffel." Her eyes twinkled on hearing that.

Toshiko gaped. "Your father was the man who built the _**Eiffel Tower**_?!"

A giggle answered her. "Yes, Miss Toshiko. He…eh?!"

More footfalls. People turned as the door opened again, allowing Yamamoto Eriko to step into the room. Following her was another woman, one that made Takada Tamasuke gape in stunned disbelief on recognizing her. "Karumi-san…!"

Dō Karumi — "Tōgai Shisai" as she was known to her brother and sister tōshi — was a shapely woman with fiery red hair that formed a wild halo around her face and was tapered off in a shaggy fringe at mid-neck. A pair of deep amber-brown eyes peeked out of a face that was almost perfectly shaped for a Japanese woman of twenty years of age. Hanging off her left lower earlobe was the symbol of what she really was: A silver magatama-shaped earring marking her as "A-rank" amongst tōshi…and bore the soul of Dèng Ài, a military general of great skill and prowess who had been recognized by Cáo Cāo's great strategist Sīmǎ Yì and had served in the forces of Cáo Wèi in the campaigns that eventually brought the rival state of Shǔ Hàn to its knees in 263 C.E. Around her neck was a beautiful cloth neck choker with an amethyst jewel seated over her throat. She was dressed in a white button shirt, knit wool vest and form-fitting blue jeans.

Her eyes instantly fixed on the man who had called out her name. She blinked in confusion for a moment before she gaped. "Tamasuke-kun…?!"

He grinned as he held out his arms. Crying out in delight, she immediately gave him a hug as the others in the room beamed at this wonderful reunion between friends after a forty-year separation. After a moment, both then pulled apart before Karumi turned to face the others. "I'm sorry about that," she said. "It's just that…!"

Her eyes then locked with Keitarō's.

All the Avalonians in the room gasped on sensing twin LARGE surges of empathic energy explode from Keitarō's and Karumi's hearts as their eyes remained locked on each other. As a pair of confused normal Terrans blinked as they watched this, Keitarō walked over to gently take Karumi's hands in his own. Both still gazed intently into the other person's orbs as their awakening telepathy — something that came part-and-parcel with Karumi's new body, gifted thanks to a blood transfusion from Taeko back to Keitarō to allow him to become a "Terran-adopted Avalonian" — allowed their minds to reach out into the other to sense out their memories, likes, dislikes and everything else that made Urashima Keitarō and Dō Karumi the people they were.

After a moment — when Toshiko, Makoto, Moe and Eriko gasped on their feeling something powerful and life-long finally click in between Keitarō and Karumi; as they had just become Avalonians, Taeko and Maria didn't intrinsically understand all the signs — the newly-bonded couple sunk into a warm embrace, their eyes tearing with joy and happiness.

"_Do vanan'cha, marei'cha_-Karumi."

"_Do vanan'cha, marei'cha_-Keitarō."

On hearing that, Eriko, Makoto and Toshiko whooped with delight as Moe began to sob. "Moe-chan! What's wrong?!" Shinobu demanded as she moved to comfort her girlfriend.

Moe smiled at her. "Keitarō-san and Karumi-san are now bond-mates, Shinobu," she whispered. "In effect, they're now a married couple."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"_**SEMPAI'S GETTING MARRIED?!**_"

And with that, Shinobu dropped to the floor in a dead faint!

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) _The Senior Year_ character and organization notes:

The **Galactic Federation of Planet-states** (often simply shortened to the "Federation") is a League of Nations-type alliance of planets that Mike Smith and I devised for _The Senior Year_ as part-and-parcel of explaining the intergalactic political situation around Earth. The Federation is composed of about fifty member-states, the largest of which being the **Kingdom of Elle** (introduced in the first _Yatsura_ movie _Only You_), the **United Tribes of Uru** (Lum's home planet and her colony planets) and the **Union of Phentax Two** (the Niphentaxians' home planet and their colonies). The Federation was said to have been established about a hundred years ago and forms a sort of "C" shape geographically to the galactic north (towards the galactic core), west (in the direction of galactic rotation) and south (towards the edge of the galaxy) of the **Ipraedies Empire** (that race was first introduced in the _TSY_ story "Benten's Story"). The Federation is not like the United Federation of Planets in _Star Trek_; member states maintain their own indigenous space fleets and are not obliged to sign non-aggression pacts with each other to prevent wars between each other (hence, the reason Invader was willing to go to war with the Ellsians in _Only You_); the only real obligation on becoming part of the Federation is to come to the aide of a member state in case an outside power like Ipraedos attacks.

**Toranoseishin Finances** was first introduced in the _TSY_ story "Sakura's Class Reunion." It — and the group that controls it, the **Inshin Group** — were created to explain how is it the Moroboshi home in _Yatsura_ always got repaired so quickly throughout the television and manga series.

Ataru's twin brother, **Moroboshi Kaeru**, was first introduced in the _TSY_ story "My Darlings United."

And **Lyna** is Sagussa's rough equivalent to the Prophet **Muḥammad** in Islam; she was the clone daughter of a scientist whose death effectively triggered the **War of Clone Rights** that ultimately destroyed the Fourth Sagussan Republic. She was first noted of in "Spirit-War Tomobiki" and made a brief appearance in "Great Father Ataru Stage One: Renewal."

2) In Urushihara-sensei's _Kan_, neither **Scarlett Ryan** or **Irina Bellova** were given either a middle name (in the former's case) or a patronymic (in the latter's). The middle name "Catharine" for Scarlett — derived from Scarlett O'Hara's middle name from _Gone With The Wind_ — is my invention. The patronymic **Antónovna** ("daughter of Antón") — also my invention — is derived from one of Russia's most famous writers, **Antón Pálovič Čéxov** (1860-1904). As an aside, I always use the Scientific Romanization system when it comes to transcribing Russian words into Latin letters. The "**Č**" represents the voiceless palato-alveolar affricate that is similar to the "ch" in _ch__ange_. The "**X**" represents the voiceless velar fricative similar to the "ch" in _lo__ch_. When carons aren't available, the **Č** is normally written as "ch." The **X** is typically written as "kh" in other systems. Thus, the writer mentioned above is none other than **Anton Chekhov**.

Irina's name is written in Cyrillic as **Иpинa Aнтóнoвнa Бeллoвa**.

3) In the continuity of the _Love Hina_ manga, it was Mitsune who first came to the Hinata-sō; she would later persuade Naru to follow her from the Mejiro neighbourhood of Tōkyō's Toshima Ward near Ikebukuro Station and come live at the old hot springs hotel. I forgot about that particular point, but decided to have Naru come down to Hinata first with Mitsune following her to help better explain the latter's backstory.

As an aside, the names given to Keitarō's parents here are my creation.

4) Translations: **Kōkyo** — Literally "Imperial Residence," this is the name of the Imperial Palace in the Chiyoda Ward of Tōkyō, five hundred metres west of Tōkyō Station; **Chūi** — Navy sub-lieutenant/Army first lieutenant/Air Force flying officer (NATO rank code OF-1); **Marei'cha** — Literally "the one with whom you raise a child" and normally translated as "bond-mate," this is the word that marks the Sagussan/Avalonian equivalent of a marriage soul-bond; **Te'a** — Literally "That Which Is Above mortal understanding," this is the energy field that Sagussans and Avalonians perceive exists in all things (and could be seen as the equivalent of the Force in _Star Wars_ or the sense of the Divine in Shintō…though I was actually inspired by the concept of **a'Tha** ["The Other"] from the 1988 _Star Trek_ novel _Spock's World_ [ISBN 0-671-66851-X] by Diane Duane when I first created this concept); **Tōshi** — Literally "fighting soldier," this is the name applied to those martial artists appearing in _Ikkitōsen_ whose lives were influenced by a person from the Three Kingdoms age of China (the souls of which are contained within magatama-shaped earrings they wear on the lower lobe of their left ears); **Saya** — Sword scabbard; **Tsuka** — Sword hilt; **Tsuba** — A sword's hand guard; **Tsuka-ito** — The silk, cotton or leather wrapping around a sword hilt; **Menuki** — Ornaments put on a sword hilt; **Nakago** — The tang of the sword blade, which has to be anchored inside the tsuka to allow the person using the sword to hold it correctly; **Koshirae** — The catch-all term for mountings where a sword is placed when not carried strapped to a person; **Miguk-saram** — American people; **Ofuda** — A type of household charm put on paper to invoke the blessings of the Kami; **Hanbok** — Name given to traditional Korean clothes; **Ch'ima** — Hanbok skirt; **Chŏgori** — Hanbok tunic; **Kyŏnggi-do** — Name of one of Korea's traditional provinces, located on the western coast of the peninsula in and around Sŏul (today, Kyŏnggi Province is an administrative part of South Korea); **C.E.** — Short for "Common Era," the modern religiously neutral term to refer to years in the Julian and Gregorian calendar systems that once had been known by the term **A.D.** (short for _Anno Domini_ or "In the Year of the Lord") (as for those years once marked as **B.C.** ["Before Christ"], they are referred to with the term **B.C.E.** ["Before the Common Era"]); **Do vanan'cha** — Short version of the Sagussan phrase _Igh do vanan'cha_ ("My heart is yours").

As an aside, in Sagussan, if a vowel is followed by "-gh," the vowel is long; this is the same convention as what is done in English with the final silent "-e" to mark a long vowel before it in words such as _bas__e_ and _fac__e_.

5) A **tsubo** is a traditional Japanese unit of area measurement. Traditionally, a tsubo was seen as the physical area of two tatami mats…which meant that for a long time, the actual size of a tsubo was different from place to place as the size of tatami mats always varied depending on who made them. Eventually, the tsubo was standardized at 3.306 square metres (35.58 square feet). Thus, the total area of the Hinata-sō is 11.46 hectares in metric measurements or 28.31 acres (1,233,361.13 square feet) in Imperial measurements.

As an aside, the land value of the Hinata-sō would be ¥1,324,702 per tsubo or US$412.04 per square foot (at the average exchange rate of ¥90.28 per US$1.00 in February 2010).

6) As with the location of the Hinata-sō, the location of the island of **Molmol** was never precisely given in the _Love Hina_ manga other than it was close to the International Date Line. The location given here would put Molmol Island on the border area between the **Republic of Kiribati** bearing to the west, south and southeast, the **Republic of the Marshall Islands** to the northwest and elements of the **United States Minor Outlying Islands** to the east. The nearest point of land to Molmol would be the uninhabited American territory of **Howland Island** four hundred kilometres to the east; the I-Kiribati coral atoll of **Abemama** would be a little over four hundred kilometres to the west and the coral island of **Nikunau** would be four hundred kilometres to the southwest. Geologically, Molmol Island would be a separate entity from the **Gilbert Islands** to the west and the **Phoenix Islands** to the east.

The whole political situation concerning Molmol will be described in future chapters.

7) **Tōgai Shisai** (**Dō Karumi**) is a 1968 alumnus of the **Kyoshō Academy** as effectively noted above. She is the current incarnation of **Dèng Ài** (unknown date of birth, died 264 C.E.), a military general who served mostly under **Sīmǎ Yì** (179-251), who was the brains behind the throne of Cáo Wèi in the wake of the death of the man who effectively founded the northern of the Three Kingdoms, **Cáo Cāo** (155-220). As noted above, Dèng was one of the generals who commanded the forces of Wèi in their campaign to subdue the rival southwest state of Shǔ Hàn, achieving final victory in 263. During the campaign to destroy Shǔ, Dèng did not follow his commanding general's basic battle plan; this is what saw him eventually denounced and killed a year later. In this life, Karumi was able to endure the politics of Kyoshō and graduate from school with high honours as well as earning her A-rank standing in various Great Fighters Tournaments…and she was able to maintain a relationship with Urashima Kyōsuke at the same time.

One particular quirk of Dèng Ài that he was known for in his first life does reflect strongly on Karumi's current life, but with a tokkaebi-turned-sorceress for a sister-in-law, that problem will not bother the future Mrs. Urashima Keitarō that much. That will be explained further in Part Seven.

As an aside — for those who haven't read the writer's notes of Part 1 of _Phoenix From the Ashes_ just yet — I borrowed an idea from _Koihime Musō_ and elected to give the tōshi of _Ikkitōsen_ "real" names as the names better known to fans don't follow any proper Japanese naming convention. What I did was take the _kun'yomi_ or _nanori_ reading of the kanji that went into "real name" element of a tōshi's name, then added appropriate Japanese name elements such as _mi_ ("beautiful") or _ko_ ("child") to the given name to make them sound like proper Japanese names. In doing this, I designated the names that appear in _Ikkitōsen_ as a tōshi's **battle name**…while the names I created are their **birth names** registered on their families' _koseki_. For example, let's look at Tōgai Shisai (Dō Karumi):

Past-self's name: **Dèng Ài**  
Family name character: **鄧** (_on'yomi_ reading **tō** or **dō**; no _kun'yomi_ reading)  
Given name character: **艾** (_on'yomi_ reading **gai** or **gei**; _kun'yomi_ reading **yomogi**, **mogusa** or **karu**)

As I intended to make this current incarnation of Dèng Ài a woman, I mated the _mi_ (**美**) kanji to the given name to create the word "Karumi," which is written **艾美**.

Whenever I run into characters that have no _kun'yomi_ reading, I try to use different _on'yomi_ readings (if available) to create a sense of difference between one's birth name and battle name.

8) **Moé** is a character from the _Love Hina_ anime; she first appeared in the episode "A Sepia-Coloured Promise With a Sleeping Girl: A Trick?" (anime episode #20). She was also briefly mentioned in the manga episode "Yes or No or ?" (manga episode #71); there, Naru complained about some noise coming from the "doll in the basement." Thought not confirmed by Akamatsu-sensei before he ended the manga series, this comment clearly indicates that he did acknowledge what was shown in the anime as part of the manga continuity.

As noted in the anime story, Moé's real name is "Moem"…but since that didn't sound like any French name I'm familiar with, I decided to make that name an acronym for the proper French girls names **Maria Odette Emmanuelle Madeline**…which would be pretty typical of the time period as the French always loved to stack on more than two given names to children. Of course, her "relationship" to the famous French architect **Gustave Eiffel** (1832-1923) is my own creation.

As an aside, **Onsen Tamago** is a character who appears in both the _Love Hina_ manga and anime; his name was actually chosen after Akamatsu-sensei asked fans of the manga to suggest a name for him. As people know well, he's a very intelligent animal though he can only utter out the sound "Myuu" when he speaks. Fortunately for him, Taeko (thanks to her being a tokkaebi) and the Hinata Avalonians (thanks to their telepathy) can understand what Tamago is saying with ease. What was found by everyone down in the tunnels below the Hinata-sō in this part was the prototype **Mecha-Tama** attack drone that appeared sometime after Tamago came to Hinata and **Kaolla Su** became jealous of him; the first Mecha-Tama showed up in the manga story "Mysterious Girl's Secret" (manga episode #41).

9) The **Koseki** (literally "family registry") is the official record of each family in Japan. The _koseki_ serves as a catch-all recording of the following events that affect a family: births, acknowledgements of a child's paternal ancestry, adoptions, disruptions of adoptions, death, marriages and divorces. All _koseki_ are kept at the local registrar's office. All events such as the removal of Keitarō's name from his family _koseki_ become legally effective once said changes are recorded in the applicable _koseki_. Of course, births and deaths are seen as effective the day and time they happen, but such events must be recorded in the _koseki_ as soon as possible.


	3. Taeko Protects the Hinata-sō

Approaching the Hinata-sō, two hours before supper…

"Poor Sempai! What an awful thing to happen to her!"

"Figures it was some creepy guy who shot her!"

"It was one of those aliens, too! Why would this bastard attack Sempai?!"

"I don't know, Emi-chan," Matsumoto Sachiyo said as she and her best friends, Ichikawa Emi and Onoue Kikuko, made their way up the Hinata-dōri towards the foot of the long stairs that ascended to the main doors of their Motoko-sempai's current place of residence. In Sachiyo's hand was a copy of the special edition of the _Kanagawa Shimbun_ covering the presence of the Niphentaxians and Avalonians in Hinata. Included in those articles had been a listing of the seventy-eight assistant observers who lived in Hinata, including pictures and short stories of what their cover lives had been like, all spread out throughout the regional broadsheet that covered the daily news from across the prefecture.

One particular entry had shocked all three girls, who were freshmen at Mikasa Girls Junior and Senior High School, a private institution on the eastern slopes of Ōgusu-yama in Yokosuka opposite the Hinata-sō:

Sakurada Tamao.

Physical age 17.

Current second-year high school student at Mikasa; she was in Aoyama Motoko's homeroom class…and could be seen as the kendō-ka's one true friend.

And she was one of **_eighteen_** Terran-form Avalonians who were Mikasa students; the others listed in the newspapers included some of the most popular girls in the school: High school freshmen Sasaki Naoko, Kashiwada Miki, Mariko Anderson, Minamikuni Sakura, Ōsawa Aoi, Machimura Naomi and Horita Mika; sophomores Adō Toshiko, Andō Misa, Kotori Aya and Motohashi Kasumi; and seniors Takada Junko, Suematsu Haruka, Asai Kaori, Shibuya Chiho, Hironaka Norika and Tōdō Mika!

Still, given that the Avalonians simply had no choice but to obey their masters when it came to maintaining cover — not to mention public sympathy towards the bioroids when it was revealed that some of them had been **_raped_** multiple times by their masters, to say anything of their almost always being treated as "mere machines"…when it was glaringly obvious to those Terrans who were friends or acquaintances with these bioroid women that they were human in body as well as soul despite the artificial nature of their creation — the chances were excellent that Tamao and the others would still be allowed to attend Mikasa.

While the three high school freshmen — who all passionately looked upon their Motoko-sempai as the most perfect woman on the planet, someone to admire and venerate for her stoicism and her stance against creepy boys who didn't know their proper place when it came to girls — often were jealous at Tamao because of the fact that she _was_ a true friend to Motoko, none of them would ever dream of the idea of seeing her hurt.

"Is that last pole in, Asami-ya?!"

"Hai, Taeko-sama!"

"Excellent!"

All three girls stopped as they gazed on the south yard of the Hinata-sō near the base of the stairs that led up to the main doors of the former hotel. Standing near the landing was a woman in a traditional-looking tunic-and-skirt combination, appearing to be about twenty years of age. On taking the chance to gaze on her closely, Sachiyo and her friends were quick to note the strong resemblance between this woman and the creepy, lecherous manager of the Hinata-sō whom Motoko-sempai had disciplined many times over the last year; she had the same eye and hair colour…and also wore the same dorky type of glasses. Now joining her from the direction of the southwest corner of the property was a girl with short raven hair — partially held down by a headband — and brown eyes, dressed in more modern clothing. A quick glance to the newspaper in her hand instantly told Sachiyo that this girl was another of the Hinata Avalonians, Yamaguchi Asami. The same physical age as Sakurada Tamao, Asami currently attended Hinata High School in the second year. Right now, Asami had in her hand a fair-sized sledgehammer; on seeing THAT, the newcomers from Yokohama were then quick to notice black metal poles sticking from the ground along the south border of the property at intervals of two metres, including two poles bracketing the bottom of the stairs leading up to the dorm itself.

"Now!" the person who resembled Urashima Keitarō said as she raised her hands as if she was a conductor about to launch a major performance from her orchestra.

Instantly, purple bolts of energy lashed out from her fingers to strike the tips of the poles closest to her. They immediately began to burn like ebony Olympic torches as the energy blasts that ignited them danced off to both sides, striking the other poles leading away from them in both directions. As the three Mikasa high school freshmen watched in horrified curiosity — they knew thanks to Motoko that magic was real, but to _see_ it so openly used was a totally different thing! — as the energy formed a sort of spiritual "fence" around the property, both Taeko and Asami observed the progression with delighted nods as the flames of those rods that had been initially lit up dimmed until they became small beacons of light. "Once this is all in place, we won't have to worry about any stupid intruder trying to hurt anyone inside," the latter said.

"Indeed," the former breathed out before she blinked.

"Myuu!"

Both women looked up as a very small animal about the size of a person's clenched fist spiralled down from the afternoon sky to neatly land himself on top of Taeko's head. "Oh, Tamago-ya," she said with a smile, totally not bothered by the fact that the cute hot springs turtle hatchling which was brought back by Keitarō when he returned to the Hinata-sō from his trip to the Ryūkyū Islands over two weeks ago was now sitting on her skull.

"Myuu?" Tamago crooned out.

"Yes, we're putting the magical wards in now," Taeko stated with a nod, acting as if having a civil conversation with a hot springs turtle sitting on her head was the most normal thing of all. "As soon as Kana-ya can get all the magically-proofed defensive field generators set up around the property, we'll be as protected from unruly bandits as one can be. Not to mention stupid little girls who think its their right to stalk innocent young men trying to make lives for themselves out of some childhood crush."

"Myuu?"

"Aye, it's true. Poor Keitarō-ya finds himself stalked by his own adopted sister, Kanako. Who wants to marry him and become the co-manager of the Hinata-sō."

"**_MYUU?!_**"

"Quite sickening, aye. Keitarō-ya first thought it was quite cute…but over time, Kanako's simpering just came to turn his stomach. Part of the reason he was relieved to be allowed to live here was that he could get away from the silly girl!"

"Myuu! Myuu!"

"I know. The instant they learn that Keitarō-ya has become the new owner of the Hinata-sō, they'll all come stampeding down here as soon as possible to try to talk him out of 'betraying' their 'beloved' Hina so." A disgusted snort as Taeko shook her head. "Only person that _**I**_ saw doing all the betraying in this place was Hina!"

Tamago nodded, crossing his front flippers in a look of grim satisfaction…or, at least, as much of a look of grim satisfaction a hot springs turtle could make. "Myuu!"

With that, both Taeko — with Tamago still balanced on her head — and Asami turned to head up the hill back to the Hinata-sō itself…leaving three white-faced Mikasa high school students standing on the street nearby, their brains on the verge of crashing from the sheer overload of information that had just slammed into them.

"Urashima's…becoming the OWNER of the Hinata-sō…?" Emi croaked.

All three exchanged looks, and then they screamed out before they raced for the nearby traditional tea house located near the streetcar stop up the Hinata-dōri…

* * *

"Myuu?"

A knowing smile. "Ne, Tamago-ya, I knew those three silly girls were there," Taeko stated as she stopped to gaze down towards the Wafū Chabō Hinata.

"Why let them overhear all that, Taeko-sama?" Asami asked.

"A necessary lesson for them," the tokkaebi-turned-sorceress stated with an amused grin. "As Tamao-ya can tell you, Asami-ya, Motoko-ya doesn't really care at all for those three girls. She considers them too simpering for her tastes, to say anything of their annoying stalking tendency concerning her, just like Tamao-ya had to put up to all her many 'fans' before she met Motoko-ya and fell in love with her. Sachiko-ya and her friends need to understand that certain types of behaviour cannot be allowed whatsoever. Let's go inside."

"Myuu?" Tamago asked.

A shake of the head. "Haruka-ya will wait until she has no business anymore in her café before she comes up this way to try to confront Keitarō-ya." A giggle. "Pity he's busy right now enjoying his honeymoon with Karumi-ya," she added.

Asami laughed as they headed into the Hinata-sō…

* * *

The Wafū Chabō Hinata, minutes later…

"**_WHAT?!_**"

For Urashima Haruka, what she had just heard nearly made her pass out.

"It's true, Haruka-sempai!" a teary-eyed Emi stated as she and her friends sat at one of the Western-style tables located in the café's genkan. Like many traditional tea houses in Japan, the main floor of the Wafū Chabō was elevated off ground level; customers who wanted to sit at any of the low tables there had to take their shoes off in the genkan and step onto the tatami mats that composed the main floor before taking a seat. Fortunately for Motoko's friends, Haruka had no customers even if her tea shop wouldn't close until eight o'clock; they all knew that the instant someone walked in looking for tea or something to eat, Haruka would shoo them out so she could tend to business. Given how much Motoko respected the older woman, Emi, Sachiyo and Kikuko would gladly comply with such a request to leave. "We overheard two of the Avalonians now staying on the hill say your nephew is planning to become the new owner of the Hinata-sō. The instant he does that, Motoko-sempai and the others will be thrown out for sure! Given what that Mizote girl did to Sempai, if that happens…!"

She tried not to break down and cry, though Sachiyo and Kikuko were immediately at her side to comfort her. Trying not to look nauseous at the melodramatics — she knew that Motoko's underclassmen _**did**_ have huge crushes on her, but _honestly_…! — being acted out in front of her, Haruka took a moment to draw in a comforting lung-full of tobacco smoke from her cigarette as she tried to process what she just heard. While it could have been yet another stupid over-exaggeration about something — these days, it wouldn't surprise Keitarō's cousin/aunt at all that Emi and her friends had picked up Motoko's rather annoying habit of flying to wild conclusions over the most trivial of things — they just overheard, the idea of Keitarō actually moving to be the _**owner**_ of the Hinata-sō was quite unnerving. Haruka knew that her tea shop was legally seen as part of the Hinata-sō grounds, which was ultimately owned by her grandmother/adopted mother Hina. She had nothing to worry about when it came to her café; the power of attorney papers Hina signed with Keitarō's dad last year to make Keitarō the new manager of the dorm house didn't give him any control or influence over the Wafū Chabō Hinata whatsoever. Besides…

Besides…?

The tea shop matron tried not to shake her head. Had that stupid incident two weeks ago concerning Mizote Toshiko not happened, she probably wouldn't be taking Emi's words about this so seriously. Before that night, Haruka hadn't really concerned herself too much with the strained relationships between Keitarō and the girls of the Hinata-sō. Yes, Naru and Motoko took it to ugly extremes at times…but she was sure Keitarō's helpful and forgiving nature would win out in the end and even they would see that the various "acts of lechery" were accidents and they would finally lay off him. Like Hina, Haruka knew of the many fears that haunted Naru, Motoko and the others now living at the Hinata-sō; what the matriarch of the Urashima Clan had done for them had been simply the right thing to do in the end even if closing the hotel to the general public badly hurt the local economy. While she had warned Hina to not make Keitarō's becoming the new manager a surprise for the girls, Haruka hadn't pressed it; like her adopted mother, Haruka knew what a really nice person Keitarō was deep down and believed right from the start that even someone as hard-nosed as Aoyama Motoko would accept him eventually.

The recent trip to Kyūshū and the Ryūkyū Islands — where Keitarō had ran into his childhood friend Otohime Mutsumi for the first time in over a decade — showed that; everyone had come back together all smiles and had settled back into their lives as Keitarō moved to prepare himself for yet another try at the Centre Test in eleven months' time.

Two nights after their return, Toshiko had her accident…

…and — thanks to her coming down like an avalanche on Naru, Motoko and Kaolla when she had come to the Hinata-sō hanging off Keitarō's arm — effectively WRECKED over a year's worth of emotional growth inside those girls, not to mention the others.

Remembering that powerful back-hand strike the motorcycle enthusiast delivered to her jaw that put her in the hospital for several days — _Thank the gods for our family's fast healing abilities!_ Haruka mused as she tried not to visibly wince — when she tried to upbraid the younger woman for snapping Naru's and Motoko's wrists like she had done, the matron of the Wafū Chabō then sighed. _That actually hadn't been a smart move on my part!_ she mused as she finished her cigarette, then put the butt out in a nearby ashtray. While she did care for the girls now living at the Hinata-sō, she also had no legal authority over Keitarō whatsoever; he had turned twenty in January, his Coming of Age Day having been celebrated a week later, thus making him a legal adult in the eyes of the law. Even more so, she knew via keeping in touch with Keitarō's parents in Hayama that he had completely stopped sending e-mails to them or his adopted sister Kanako the previous September and had not called them since mid-summer. While Keitarō might still be understandably sore over what his parents — instigated by his mother Nanako — had done to him a year ago, Haruka believed he'd finally get over it…

…or _would_ he?

"Sempai?"

Haruka blinked on hearing Kikuko's concerned voice, and then she sighed. "So what else did you hear?" she then asked. "I saw some sort of energy flash a few minutes ago. I know the Noukiites in town are camped out in the fields to the east of the kitchen…!"

Motoko's underclassmen gasped. "Oh, gods! We totally forgot about that!" Sachiyo moaned out. "This girl — I think she's an Avalonian, but she wasn't named in the papers — used some sort of magic to put up 'wards' around the grounds!"

Haruka gaped. "Wards?!" she exclaimed.

"Hai! And it was really evil-looking magic, too! Purple lightning…!"

"**_PURPLE?!_**"

The younger girls wailed on seeing Haruka turn as white as a sheet on hearing those words. "Hai!" Sachiyo shakily confirmed with a nod. "She calls herself 'Taeko!' Even looks like your nephew, too! Dresses traditionally, but I…!"

"'**_TAEKO?!_**'"

Again, they screamed on hearing that cry of terror from their host. Silence then fell as Emi, Sachiyo and Kikuko stared wide-eyed at Haruka…and then they gulped on seeing the older woman sink into a chair, shaking her head in horror. "T'aeja…!"

The Mikasa high school freshmen blinked…before looks of terrified recognition flashed across their faces. "'T'aeja?!' Isn't that the demon in the Cursed Blade?!" Emi croaked out as she recalled Motoko's dark tales about the Yōkatana Hinata.

Sachiyo and Kikuko nodded as they tried not to pass out in horror on realizing that Keitarō might have made some sort of alliance with a monster Motoko feared as the devil of devils itself. They then blinked on hearing Haruka state, "That's not exactly true when it comes to T'aeja, Emi-chan."

"Wh-what do you m-mean, S-s-Sempai?" Sachiyo stammered.

Haruka sighed. "T'aeja is a tokkaebi, a Korean version of a tsukumogami. It first came alive in the mid-1500s in a fireplace poker in a house outside modern-day Sŏul. During the Toyotomi invasions, an ancestor of mine found the poker and was pretty impressed by the good steel that went into it. He brought it back and got a sword-smith to turn it into a katana. That became the Yōkatana Hinata. Well…" She pulled out her pack of cigarettes and put one into her mouth before lighting it. "T'aeja didn't take too kindly to being treated like that. End result: The Great Fire of 1603 that nearly wiped out Kyōto. Not to mention nearly slaughtered all of Motoko-chan's ancestors; it was actually Master Hosan who brought that thing finally to heel." A sigh. "Ever since that day, my family's been the official spiritual guardians of the Yōkatana…though people from Motoko-chan's school have the right to use the blade when they need something with that level of power. It…" She gulped as she realized something. "Oh, gods…!"

"What?!" Emi nearly sobbed.

Haruka shook her head. "It was in the Hinata-sō all this time! I'll lay strong bets that Keitarō found it when he was younger and somehow befriended T'aeja…!"

The younger girls exchanged stunned looks. "Then we have to get one of Motoko-sempai's relatives — her sister, maybe! — to get down here and kill that thing!" Kikuko instantly stated.

The older woman shook her head. "Not going to happen."

"Why not?!" Sachiyo demanded. "It's what Sempai's family does!"

"Against a creature that was strong enough and angry enough to fight everyone in the Shinmei-ryū — killing most of them! — all by itself when it was possessing someone?! Something that needed MASTER HOSAN to take it down finally and bring it under control?!" Haruka snapped, which made the younger girls gasp. She then took a deep breath. "Where are we going to find _him_, huh?! You got an Ouija board and someone qualified to do a seance?!"

The younger girls moaned. "What about people from Master Hosan's dōjō in Hokkaidō?" Emi then demanded. "They'll probably know about this!"

"Unfortunately, the only person who could ask for their help is the _**Emperor**_," Haruka reminded her. "Or — whenever she's on Earth — Raeburn-shōsa."

On hearing that, a miasma of doom seemed to settle over Motoko's schoolmates. It was the same feeling of total helplessness they had experienced two weeks ago on learning that a non-martial artist — a _**bōsōzoku**_ to boot! — had so easily hurt their beloved sempai…and said woman wouldn't be punished at all for stopping Motoko from putting Urashima Keitarō down for whatever lechery he might have done that evening. "Why is Urashima doing this?!" Sachiyo moaned. "Why does he hate Sempai so much?! He must have made Toshiko-sempai break Sempai's and Naru-sempai's wrists two weeks ago! Why…?!"

"I don't know," the tea shop matron answered, ignoring the statement about Keitarō actually convincing Toshiko to cripple Naru and Motoko. While Haruka was starting to realize that her cousin/nephew was a lot more complex than she had long believed, he simply wouldn't get people to go fight someone on his behalf; given how much he loathed fighting in general, the idea would make him physically ill. "Unfortunately, after Motoko-chan was hurt, I got my jaw nearly knocked off by Toshiko-san when I tried to make her stop." As the younger girls croaked on hearing that — they hadn't been told about any other injuries from that night outside Narusegawa Naru — Haruka took in a deep puff of tobacco smoke. "Ever since that time, Keitarō hasn't spoken to me whatsoever."

"But you're his aunt!" Kikuko declared. "You can make him…!"

"_**ENOUGH!**_"

All three girls croaked on hearing that snapped shout from their host. As they felt Haruka's annoyed glare fall on them, the older woman sighed. "Look! I'm going to make this short and sweet!" she declared. "You girls don't come here often, so you don't know this…but a LOT of people in Hinata do NOT like Motoko-chan, much less Naru-chan, Kitsune-chan and Su-chan!" As they gaped in shock at her — how on Earth could the people of the city of Hinata _**not**_ like someone as noble as Motoko?! — she nodded. "That's right. What Motoko-chan's done to my nephew over the last year has been seen by a lot of people here as the act of a _**berserk monster**_ against a _**defenceless man**_." Ignoring their cries of denial over hearing Motoko being seen as _that_, she added, "Which would warrant the intervention of the _police_ if it went too far!" As they moaned out in horror on hearing THAT, Haruka sighed. "The only thing that's held the police back all this time is the fact that _one_ person has let those acts pass by.

"That was _**Keitarō**_!"

As they stared in disbelief at her, Haruka smirked. "That's right!" she sternly declared. "That 'pervert' Motoko-chan loves to rant on and on about all the time always let it go whenever things happened and she lost control of her temper! You want to know how many times Keitarō could have sicced the police on her and Naru-chan?!" As they winced, Haruka took a deep pull of her cigarette. "He chose not to! That's what my nephew is like deep down. Yes, he's very clumsy and has pretty bad luck…but he's got a heart of gold and would gladly sell the shirt off his back if he believed it would help someone." She tried not to wince on realizing how Keitarō's overtly-helpful nature had been taken advantage of over the last year by Konno Mitsune to literally con him out of almost all his life savings. _Doubt Kitsune will be able to get away with that anymore with the Avalonians watching over him now_, she then mused on remembering how Toshiko had punched the would-be writer in the gut that night, not to mention the times Toshiko and the other Avalonians in Hinata had told Mitsune off every time she tried to get close to Keitarō after that incident. "I hoped — as did my grandmother — that the girls would realize that about him and welcome him into their lives. Even with what Toshiko-san did two weeks ago — not to mention her and her friends butting in between him and the girls since that time — I believe that they'll finally accept him for what he is and make him feel really at home here. Because I'll tell you this," she said as her eyes narrowed, which made Motoko's schoolmates freeze in place. "If you keep doing things that try to hurt Keitarō in any way possible, the only person you'll end up hurting in the end is _**Motoko**_." As they winced, she sighed. "Now, I _am_ running a tea shop here and I need to get back to business. Go home!"

Shaking in denial as they tried to absorb the bombshell that their host just dropped on them, Emi, Sachiyo and Kikuko staggered out of the Wafū Chabō Hinata. Haruka watched them disappear around the corner of the plaza near the front door of her café, then shaking her head, she turned to head over to her cash machine…

…and then she blinked on hearing a strange ringing noise echo through the air.

Turning to gaze onto the open doorway of her café, Haruka then gaped in awe on seeing a vertical shower of lights — _A transporter?!_ she wondered; even if she wouldn't begin to classify herself as a "Trekker," she knew the basics about _Star Trek_ — make a female human shape. That soon solidified into a woman appearing to be in her early twenties, possessing classical Oriental features even if her hair was a beautiful bright silver; said hair was shaggy, centre-parted and cut square at mid-neck. She had grey eyes like storm-laden rain clouds; gazing on them, Haruka was quick to sense great intelligence matched with equally great wit and a quirky sense of humour in the brain behind those orbs. She was dressed in Earth-like clothes: A lime green turtleneck sweater over a dark green thigh-length skirt, a doctor's smock slung over her shoulders. Of course, this woman couldn't be either a Noukiite or a Yehisrite; she didn't have the spinal ridges on the forehead that made members of the former race seem like fair-haired Klingons and her skin wasn't the bronze-tan of the latter race.

"Urashima Haruka-san, I presume," she asked with a beautiful Hokkaidō accent.

That made Haruka blink for a moment as she felt a sense of curious familiarity. That, of course, didn't make any sense at all; this woman clearly was an Avalonian — her mode of arrival clearly demonstrated that — yet Haruka would swear that…!

One of the newcomer's elegant eyebrows arched. "Did you or any of your friends ever play dating simulation video games back in the late 1990s?"

Silence…and then Haruka laughed. "_Kita-e_! The first game!" She then snapped her fingers a couple time as she tried to drudge up a name from memory. "You're…"

A chuckle responded. "Shiina Kaoru," the newcomer introduced herself with a polite bow of the head, which Haruka returned. "My master's son was a fan of the game and wanted copies of all the characters. I was created ten years ago and wound up becoming his adopted mother figure. Took a while for replicas of the other characters to be created; Megumi-chan only got out of gestation six months ago." She sighed. "I've heard that all the horror stories about what many of my sisters have endured over the last century are being passed on to people here on Earth by your news media. Be assured, my master and his son — rather, my _late_ master and his _late_ son; both were killed by the authorities when the recall began — viewed all of us as parts of the family." She tried not to look sad on saying that. "As a matter of fact, I gave birth to my master's daughter a year after I was born."

Haruka nodded. "So…what brings you here, Kaoru-san? I heard that for the time being, those of you who're still coming here from the Phentax system have to stay on your ships and the factory."

Kaoru sighed as she moved to sit at the table Emi and her friends just vacated. "My master was a certified doctor in a remote village on Phentax Twenty-one, one of the outer colonies of the system," she explained. "He had me created — outside making his son happy — to act as his nurse when it came to caring for other patients; he was the only doctor in the village and we were pretty isolated from the rest of the planet even with our technology. Over time, thanks to my telepathy and hands-on experience, I learned everything about medicine I could. He actually encouraged it. In essence, I became a physician's assistant; in effect, I'm a doctor even if I'm not properly certified here on Earth though I'll be certified soon enough by the Noukiites. My master specialized in trauma surgery, which covers the situation concerning three of your cousin's current guests at the hostel up the hill."

Haruka nodded as she sat down across from her. "You'll be Naru's, Motoko's and Kitsune's doctor. Alright, I can accept that. How are they, anyway?"

A tired sigh answered her. "They're right now drugged up on as much nerve-suppressant as the Noukiite healers who first examined them dared put into their bodies. That disruptor Toshiko's brother used on them effectively chewed up their bodies' nerves into something akin to ground beef. If they didn't have the nerve-suppressant in their systems, they would be in agony every moment they were conscious. From what I learned from a Zephyrite interrogator who did an initial psionic scan of Tarash — that's his name, by the way — when he was brought aboard the prison ship, he intended not to kill Naru, Motoko, Mitsune and Kaolla…but to CRIPPLE them, most likely for life."

Haruka blinked. "Why?!"

"Because — believing that he would have died that night and wanting the best for his sister — he wanted Toshiko to have a clear path in obtaining your cousin's love," Kaoru answered with a look of disgust. "Which proves how little he — who, I'm pleased to say, did love his sister and the other girls he was the effective master to very much — really understood people like myself." A sigh then escaped her. "I would assume, Haruka-san, you are aware of the real attitudes people here in Hinata have concerning your cousin's current guests? I was warned ahead of time about that by Eriko before I beamed down."

Haruka nodded. "It's mostly concentrated on Naru-chan, Motoko-chan and Su-chan given how crazy they can be when it comes to Keitarō. Atop that, my family's inn has been under a cloud of suspicion since 1970 when my granduncle's girlfriend disappeared and my grandmother was suspected to have something to do with it. Dō Karumi was a very popular person here in town. Even for a tōshi," Haruka derisively stated before she took a deep pull on her cigarette. "I know about your people's abilities. I assume you realize what's really going on with Naru-chan and the others and how those fears influence their attitudes about everything."

"Yes, I do; probing a patient's memories and monitoring their emotions to ascertain their mental health is something I always do. I hope that — despite what happened two weeks ago — Keitarō is willing to allow them to stay at the Hinata-sō."

"I believe so…though I have to confess, I'm starting to question a lot of things when it comes to him these days." Here, Haruka gave her guest a wry smile. "I used to think I knew Keitarō very well. But right now, I just don't know. Granted, most of my current doubts stem from the fact that I haven't talked to him at all since Toshiko put myself and the others into the hospital two weeks ago…but just before you arrived, I learned from three of Motoko-chan's friends from Mikasa that Keitarō now plans to find some way to become the official owner of the property. Of course, given their crushes on her…"

The just-arrived healer chuckled. "Ah, yes. Motoko's little stormtroopers." As Haruka laughed on hearing that oblique reference to Lum's Stormtroopers, the unofficial fan club in Tomobiki whose members were passionate admirers of the Oni in question — she did know that the "Lum" who had lived in that town until the turn of the year was actually a replica, but couldn't remember all the details — Kaoru sighed. "And I can also understand how the idea of Keitarō becoming the owner of this property would unnerve Naru, Motoko and Mitsune, especially in the wake of all they've done to him over the last year. After all, if he was the legal owner, he could evict them from the Hinata-sō and throw them out onto the streets." As her host winced, the healer sighed. "Personally, I hope it doesn't go that far, Haruka-san. But I hope you realize that underneath his passionate willingness to help people, there _has_ to be a lot of resentment inside Keitarō for being treated like a living human punching bag. Especially when he was made manager of his family property…and the people constantly attacking him are technically his family's _**house guests**_ at the Hinata-sō."

Haruka winced again. "I guess so. What's even worse — or so it seems to me right now — about it is that Keitarō has supposedly become close to a demon that's haunted my family since the start of the Edo period. This being…well…"

Before she could launch into a description of the Yōkatana Hinata and the tokkaebi that had lived within it, angry shouts echoed from outside. Kaoru winced on sensing a storm of outrage explode from many people now close to the Hinata-sō. "Oh, Lyna!" she exclaimed as she got up. "Someone's being attacked up there!"

She instantly sprinted out, drawing out what looked like a tricorder from her smock. Haruka watched her go before grunting as she moved to follow…

* * *

On the grounds east of the Hinata-sō, seconds later…

"What in Lyna's name are these things?!"

"Some model of gynoid! I'm trying to scan them now, Eriko!"

"Calm down, Kana-ya. I'll make them behave."

"_O-ni-i-cha-n. O-ni-i-cha-n. O-ni-i-cha-n…_"

As a wide-eyed Kaoru watched in sheer awe at such an incredible display of metahuman power, a woman dressed in a modern version of a commoner's hanbok from Korea raised her hands. Two globes of dark purple energy — magic, no doubt — formed around those hands before the dozen beautiful adult women in sports bras and flowing skirts that went to mid-calf that had been marching towards the building all found themselves levitated with ease into the air. Just as Haruka came up to stand beside her, Kaoru was then quick to note that the girls just caught by who had to be Urashima Taeko — the healer had got the updated list of Avalonians, including the adopted ones, from Yamamoto Eriko before beaming down from the hospital ship via the bioroid factory — were still walking as they were the monster created by Victor Frankenstein as depicted in the 1931 movie starring Boris Karloff: Arms thrust out before them at right angles to the body and blank though somewhat intimidating looks on their faces.

As the Noukiite marines who had been camped out on the grounds charged up, Peacemakers at the ready, many of the Avalonians who had been either inside the building or spending time in the hot springs — they were the ones who were nude and wet, not bothering to drape their bodies with towels even if there were no normal Terran man anywhere close by — all turned to gaze on Kudō Kana. Another of Keitarō's friends who had dated him over the last two weeks, she appeared to be Eriko's age, though she possessed long brown hair that extended to her waist — part of which was secured down by a pretty bow tie at the back of her head — and golden brown eyes behind reading glasses. Stylishly dressed — which seemed the norm for all the Avalonians who lived in Hinata, Haruka mused — she had a complex tricorder in hand as she scanned the strange women now trapped by Taeko's holding spell. After a moment — by then, the Noukiites had formed two lines of riflemen, their deadly carbines now locked on the strange women who had been trying to attack the Hinata-sō and the beautiful women now living inside it — the brainy-looking twenty-something sighed. "Well, I have to admit that Su-san is even more of a genius than I first assumed," she declared.

"Why were these things created…or need we guess?" Eriko sarcastically asked.

A wry smirk from the tech guru of the Hinata Avalonians. "Given what they're chanting right now, Eriko, they're obviously Su-san's first attempt at trying to make a proper sex-droid." As Haruka's jaw dropped in shock and all the Avalonians — and Shinobu as well; she was with Moe — shook their heads in annoyance at such a revelation, Kana added, "I'm trying to get them to deactivate themselves, but they've got pretty impressive security firewalls shielding their core programs from outside intrusion."

"_O-ni-i-cha-n. O-ni-i-cha-n. O-ni-i-cha-n…_"

"Is that little brat controlling them?!" Mizote Toshiko — who had two rather large wrenches in hand; no doubt, she wanted to take the chance to tear them apart herself with her tools — then snarled. "I thought she was shipped off to her little island kingdom!"

As Haruka blinked in confusion — _Isn't Su-chan from India?!_ she wondered to herself — Kana smirked. "After FIVE direct hits from a disruptor, Toshiko?!" she wondered before shaking her head. "No. No doubt, this was some sort of 'let's keep playing with Onii-chan' project she came up with that would have automatically activated in case she was very badly hurt and sent home to recover." She shook her head as she tapped controls on the tricorder. "Damn! I wish I had a good dataPADD with me right now! This thing doesn't have any of the damned juice I need to get past those firewalls!" she snarled.

"_O-ni-i-cha-n. O-ni-i-cha-n. O-ni-i-cha-n…_"

"What the fuck's going on here?!"

Everyone blinked, and then they turned to see a woman with a wild halo of red hair standing nearby, a VERY displeased look on her face. She was in a button shirt and jeans, though both weren't properly buttoned up. On seeing that, the Avalonians found themselves smiling in delight on noting that the newest sister of their small community was clearly getting places with her bond-mate. "I'm sorry to interrupt your private time with my brother, Karumi-ya," Taeko stated. "But it appears that Kaolla-ya feared that if she was separated too long from Keitarō-ya, he would grow melancholy at her absence. She built these dolls to stand in her place."

"_O-ni-i-cha-n. O-ni-i-cha-n. O-ni-i-cha-n…_"

Dō Karumi — who had been quick to sense the look of white-faced disbelief from the woman who distantly resembled the selfish bitch that had nearly killed her forty years ago — blinked before she sighed. "Androids, right?" she demanded.

"Unfortunately so, Karumi-san," Kana stated. "I'm trying to shut them down now, but Su-san's quite a genius when it comes to computer programming…"

A snort escaped the Kyoshō alumnus. "Easier way to do that, Kana," Karumi stated before she looked over. "Shinobu-chan, you got some chopsticks in the kitchen?"

Shinobu perked. "_Chopsticks_, Karumi-sempai?"

"_O-ni-i-cha-n. O-ni-i-cha-n. O-ni-i-cha-n…_"

"Yeah. Preferably metal ones. Get me a dozen of them."

An eager nod from the youngest of the Hinata-sō's tenants. "Hai!"

As Shinobu raced off for the kitchen, Haruka was trying not to curl up into a frightened ball as the revelations of the last hour threatened to overwhelm her mind and put her into a coma. Seeing the magic Taeko was using to deal with the Kaolla replicas — Haruka had been quick to note the close resemblance between these robots and their suspected creator — had been all the proof the tea shop matron needed: This woman WAS the undying demon in the Cursed Blade, now living as a human being…and possessing command of a LOT of magic to boot. Even more so, the tōshi that had tried to get into the pants of Haruka's granduncle Kyōsuke many years ago was back…and what was worse, she seemed to be in full battle trim, appearing to have not aged a day since then; no doubt, she had become an Avalonian as well. While Haruka hadn't believed those accusations about her grandmother KILLING this monster, she did — like many sensible people in Kantō these days — look on tōshi as a whole as nothing more than hooligans who needed to be rounded up, tossed into a remote prison and locked away from civilized people forever.

To see Dō Karumi HERE…!

"_O-ni-i-cha-n. O-ni-i-cha-n. O-ni-i-cha-n…_"

"Sempai!"

Karumi turned as Shinobu came back, a dozen metal chopsticks in hand. Taking them from the younger girl, the reborn warlord that had crushed Shǔ Hàn took a moment to look them over. She then smirked as she allowed her own ki to flood the implements.

"_O-ni-i-cha-…SQAAAAK!_"

Most of the witnesses gaped on seeing the robots trapped in Taeko's levitation spell now with _**chopsticks**_ punched through their foreheads over the bridges of their noses! As the robots went limp and sparks danced over the chopsticks from the shattered circuits underneath their skins, people then gazed expectantly on Kana. "All their internal functions have been totally disrupted," the brown-haired genius calmly said, not bothered by the fact that Keitarō's bond-mate had knocked them out with flung _kitchen utensils_!

Karumi smirked. "Guess I found their 'off' switches."

The others laughed as she turned and walked back to the Hinata-sō. Taeko sighed. "Well, a little crude, but it was dealt with," she mused to herself as she lowered the disabled robots to the ground. "Eriko-ya, be a dear and ask Tamasuke-ya to come here," she then bade. "I want him to see this right away. If he's agreeable to the idea, I want to have these things and all of Kaolla-ya's other belongings transported back to Molmol today."

Eriko nodded. "Right away, Taeko-sama." The elder mother of the Hinata Avalonians then raced off.

"I'll see if I can get an analysis of their programming now," Kana noted.

A smirk crossed the face of Keitarō's sister. "Don't be upset at Karumi-ya, Kana-ya," Taeko then stated with a knowing wink. "She WAS defending her husband from someone trying to kidnap him."

Kana winked in turn; they were speaking loud enough for Haruka to overhear. "Hai, Taeko-sama, that's true. Well, hopefully, THIS will make the brat learn a few things about how Keitarō-kun REALLY feels about her."

With that, she headed off to closely examine the wrecked robots as Taeko headed back inside the Hinata-sō…leaving a nearly-insensate Haruka standing there.

"'H-h-husband'…?" the tea shop matron sputtered before she fainted right into Shiina Kaoru's arms…

* * *

Molmol City, the front courtyard of the Royal Hospital, two hours later (local time: Two hours before midnight)…

"_**WHAT HAPPENED HERE?!**_"

The supervisory doctor of the night shift turned to bow respectfully to his monarch. "Your Majesty, please be assured that Princess Kaolla is safe and unharmed," he stated as he waved to the wing of the hospital that wasn't now inundated with thick clouds of smoke. Fortunately, the city fire brigade was there in strength and moving to suppress whatever might still burning inside the hospital; since there were so few patients at the Royal Hospital, there was no threat to anyone's life. "We moved her to a room well away from the danger zone as soon as we were able to get her clear of all these machines that just APPEARED out of _nowhere_ in her old room and the hallway outside."

"WHAT machines?!" Amalla Su, Kaolla's elder sister, demanded.

A shake of the head answered her. "We're not too sure, Your Highness…ah!"

They all turned as a large, muscular and scarred African-American man in his forties walked towards them. John Magill was a native of Detroit who had served in the United States Navy as a damage controlman until a port visit to Molmol City convinced him to seek out a new life here in this large tropical island — it was about the same size as the Big Island of Hawai'i itself — just northwest of the place where the Equator and the International Date Line intersected, bracketed to the west by the Gilbert Islands and to the east by Howland and Baker Islands. He had been here for a decade and just loved Molmol and its friendly population of mixed Micronesians and Indian-descent Caucasians. The people here loved him, too; even if most Molmolites didn't care at all for the American government and its rather selfish international policies — the island still hosted refugees from Bikini and Enewetak Atolls, dislocated by the many nuclear tests conducted during the 1940s and 1950s on those islands — when it came to Molmol's desire to be seen as an independent kingdom, they all knew that when push came to shove, Americans were always there to help people in trouble.

"Big Brother John" — as many Molmolite children playfully called him — proved that every time some sort of fire broke out anywhere in the capital city.

"You don't look too exhausted, John," Lamba Lu stated as he handed a bottle of locally-produced energy drink to the former American navy chief petty officer.

John smirked as he nodded his thanks; the local version of Gatorade was worlds better — and a lot healthier — than the stuff one could buy at a Kroger store back home. "Well, it was actually a very local fire, sir," he stated; even if Lamba — who was under half the American's age — was seen as the king of this island, the Detroit native was still a little uncomfortable about using all the normal modes of address when it came to such a person. "We got it out right now; I'm having the crews keep watch on it until it totally cools down, then you can get the salvage people in there. No major damage to the hallway or the room your sister was in that I saw; by the looks of it, the fire was started when some of this stuff hit the floor the wrong way and the electronics inside shorted out."

"Electrical fire," Amalla concluded.

"Yes, ma'am. Problem is, there was some stuff there that was just too large to get inside the hospital doors. I've got NO idea as to HOW it all got in there in the first place." John took a swig of his drink. "One thing I did notice was that there were a dozen fembots amongst all that equipment. They all look like your sister would during the Crimson Moon."

Lamba and Amalla blinked. "That's right," the latter stated. "She was experimenting on creating replicas of herself to record what happened in case she was affected by the Crimson Moon since she doesn't remember those things when she reverts to a child."

"In Japan?" the king of Molmol asked.

She nodded. "From what I know, Grandmother Hina allowed it."

"What about the lady's grandson? The new manager?" John asked.

All on Molmol knew of Kaolla's adventures in Japan and whom she dealt with on a regular basis while she disguised herself as a native of India…which wasn't too difficult as many Molmolites were descent of settlers from the Subcontinent who had been shipwrecked on the island in the mid-Seventeenth Century when the rulers of the Mughal Empire sought to emulate the great voyages of the Huí Chinese explorer Zhèng Hé that circumnavigated the globe over three hundred years earlier. Kaolla sent letters back to her sibling and her cousin all the time, having them delivered thanks to a small group of couriers who lived full-time in Hinata City itself and would see them safely transported between Japan and Molmol; these were the same people who had moved to get the injured princess away from the Klingon-like aliens who had shown up in Hinata after those strange copycat aliens and their poor designer-clone bioroid slaves were discovered. Much to John Magill's amusement, information in those letters made the evening news whenever they were finally brought to Molmol City; he himself hadn't seen such reports as he was still addicted to CNN.

_Then again, is that so strange?_ the chief of the Royal Molmol Fire Protection Service wondered. _The Brits are still ga-ga over Prince William's hot girlfriend; they'll go nuts when he finally gets the urge to pop the big question on her one of these days…!_

Amalla hummed. "Well, he always likes to play with her…!"

_CRUNCH!_

"**_OW!_**"

"**_AMALLA!_**" Lamba cried out as he moved to catch his stunned cousin/adopted sister after a BRICK of all things came down from the night sky to strike her on the forehead.

As the doctor and several nurses immediately moved to help the dazed crown princess, John blinked as something seemed to float into his hand. "What the heck…?" he demanded before his eyes locked on the elegantly-written _**To the People of Molmol Island**_ on the envelope — a Japanese-style envelope that opened from the side, not the top as Western-style envelopes did — that had just landed in his hand. "Um, sir…?"

Lamba looked up…and then blinked. "What's this?"

"It just floated into my hand."

Blinking again, the king nodded as he took it, then opened it. Drawing out the single sheet of paper, he opened it to scan what was written there…and then he awked:

_To the People of Molmol,  
The Hinata House is an apartment block where people live their lives.  
It is NOT a free babysitting service for undisciplined little girls.  
My brother Keitarō does NOT, will NOT and has NEVER had any inclination to deal with Kaolla's childish desire to have him play with her, which normally constitutes his being KICKED in the FACE with the equal force of a thrown baseball almost every morning, to say ANYTHING of his being attacked by machines who possess enough power to wreck whole BUILDINGS!  
After tonight's little incident — where Kaolla's gynoid replicas tried to attack my brother while he was enjoying his honeymoon night with his new wife — I've decided that until such time as she has learned that remarkable concept called 'discipline,' Kaolla will NO LONGER be permitted onto the grounds of the Hinata House.  
Furthermore, tell her that her 'big brother' HATES her.  
I'm fully aware of the precarious diplomatic state of your island in both the normal and the magical worlds; it wouldn't take long for news of Kaolla's actions against Keitarō to make the government here in Japan declare that she is no longer welcome here.  
I don't think your island can afford something like THAT.  
Urashima Taeko  
Destroyer of Kyōto  
Landlady and Manager of the Hinata House  
P.S. If there are magicals amongst you, ask them about what a tokkaebi is.  
Do not try to seek vengeance against this "insult" towards Kaolla.  
Against me, you will NOT win!  
Have your magicals tell you of the Great Fire of 1603 and what REALLY caused it._

Lamba shuddered as he crumpled the letter in his hand. "_**HOW DARE THEY…?!**_"

_CRUNCH!_

Another falling brick, this time on the king's head! As the medical people all went into a panic and moved to try to help him, John picked up the dropped letter to scan its contents once more. After a moment, the Detroit native blinked in shock.

"The man's _married_…?!"

* * *

The Wafū Chabō Hinata, Friday 19 February, two hours before dawn…

Haruka's eyes opened.

Finding herself staring at the darkened ceiling of the small bedroom she used for herself on the upper floor of the tea house she managed, she shook her head. "What a weird dream…" she moaned to herself…before her eyes went very wide.

There were several reasons for that.

**One**: She was NAKED in her futon under the covers.

The LAST time Haruka had slept naked in bed was also the last time she had made love to Seta Noriyasu sometime after the death of Julia MacDougall and her husband Patrick thanks to a car accident.

**Two**: While she didn't smell of sex, she clearly felt as if she had endured at least FOUR pretty good orgasms…even if she didn't remember undergoing ONE!

THAT normally happened whenever she got very drunk…and Haruka had been something of a teetotaller over the last few years while she had run the Wafū Chabō.

**Three**: There was a NAKED WOMAN in bed with her.

The last time THAT had ever happened to Haruka was when she and Julia had made love to each other that one time they tried to force Noriyasu to finally choose between them…by threatening to have a lesbian relationship between them and cut him off!

She then blinked as a voice full of agony then whispered in her ear:

"Don't die, Anata…don't leave me, please…I need you…Anata…"

Turning slowly to her right — there was enough light shining through the window from the waxing crescent moon overhead for her to see without turning on her nightstand light — Haruka then blinked on seeing a wet-faced Shiina Kaoru cuddled close to her, her body quaking slightly as pained sobs escaped her. Blinking in surprise — she didn't feel really revolted by this even if she didn't consider herself the least bit bi-curious — Haruka then relaxed as she remembered what she had read in Thursday's newspapers concerning Avalonians and the culture of their long-dead creators on Sagussa. Unlike Haruka, Kaoru WAS fully bisexual and wouldn't even blink at the idea of sleeping with another woman _au naturel_. And while the healer hadn't shown any sign of being attracted to Haruka…

Keitarō's cousin then blinked as the previous day's events came back to her.

And the ugly revelations that had been made during that time.

_T'aeja…and that tōshi!_

Two beings that were seen by all the Urashima of Hayama as dark demons.

The former having effectively trapped their family into being its guardian after it had possessed Urashima Tadaoki and nearly slaughtered over a hundred thousand innocent people in Kyōko in 1603 before it was trapped once more in the Yōkatana Hinata by Master Hosan Hirosuke and turned over to to Tadaoki's widow Tamako for safe-keeping.

The latter having somehow won the heart of Urashima Hina's elder brother Kyōsuke — as to the HOW, no one really knew — back in the spring of 1970, which clearly threatened to bring the never-ending wars between the Seven Battle Schools of Kantō down on the heads of innocent people…and had to be driven away by any means possible.

Including…

Haruka shuddered. _No! Obā-chan wouldn't do_ **that**_, for Fate's sake…!_

"I'm afraid she did."

She gasped on hearing that sympathetic voice, and then she turned as she felt Kaoru shift herself slightly away from her as the healer reached over to flick on the nightstand light. Once she was able to fully gaze on the healer's nude body, Haruka could only gape in awe. _Dear gods! I'd_ kill _to have looks like THAT!_ she moaned out on seeing the perfect proportions, the well-shaped yet not overtly large breasts — understandable given that the man who had been the character designer for _Kita-e: White Illumination_ and its sequel games, a fellow named Ōyari Ashito, known more publicly by the pen-name "NOCCHI," preferred slender body shapes — and the well-formed hips that didn't have an ounce of unnecessary fat. _Not even a single stretch-mark!_ Haruka moaned to herself on seeing the clear skin over Kaoru's groin. _Dear gods! People on Earth will go_ insane _trying to learn Avalonian beauty secrets!_

Sensing her companion's appraising stare, Kaoru smiled as she shifted herself back to sit beside her, leaning in to give Haruka a tender kiss on the lips. "Ohayō."

Haruka didn't react save for blinking…and then she breathed out, "Ohayō."

"How do you feel now?"

"Actually, quite relaxed," Haruka confessed with a sigh before a nervous look crossed her face. "Did we…um, well…?"

Kaoru smirked. "Shag each other insensate?" she coyly finished, making Haruka blush. "No, Haruka-san, we didn't. After you passed out on learning Keitarō was effectively married to Karumi-san, I had Nanako bring you here to let you recover. I went in to learn the whole situation concerning Taeko-sama and Karumi-san before coming back here to look in on you. Since you clearly weren't prepared to deal with such shocking changes in your cousin's life hitting you so suddenly, I decided you needed a prescription of intimate therapy to help you regain your emotional centre of balance." As Haruka blushed on hearing _that_ term, Kaoru sighed. "Nanako didn't want to do it since she sees you deep down as one of the minor causes of Keitarō's pain over the last year, so I had to be the person to sleep with you."

Haruka winced on hearing that Keitarō's would-be girlfriends effectively saw her as being no different than Naru or Motoko. Kidō Nanako — a lovely woman with shoulder-length wavy strawberry blonde hair and brown eyes — was a nursing assistant at Hinata General Hospital; when Haruka herself had been laid up there thanks to Mizote Toshiko two weeks before, Nanako had helped keep watch over her during the day shift. Nanako was also willing to be verbally abusive to people like Naru and Motoko whenever they tried to get Keitarō to do something. A day after their return from the hospital, Naru and Motoko went crazy when they learned Nanako had arranged for Keitarō to enjoy a day-long date with her friend Furuno Aiko, a clerk at the Yokohama branch of the Takashimaya department store chain enjoying her day off. When both girls tried to make Keitarō stay to help out around the dorm, Nanako unleashed a tirade of verbal abuse that reduced Naru and Motoko to stunned silence, calling them everything from bullies to monsters, warning them that _**no one**_ in Hinata liked them and that no one would ever miss them at all if they ever died. _Especially_ if they were killed by some man who wouldn't sit back and just tolerate their androphobic actions…and had the power to **_do_** something about it.

She then hit them with the most dire threat of all:

She used the "E" word on them!

"_Keitarō-kun is within days of having the_ **police** _come here and force your_ **eviction** _from his family land!_" she spat out, nearly giving both Naru and Motoko heart attacks. "_Since the whole_ city _would gladly welcome that, I doubt your precious Hina-obāchan will be able to save you!_"

She then headed off to work, leaving two stunned girls behind; Keitarō had long since left to go on his date with a smiling Aiko hanging off his arm.

Remembering that, Haruka — who had watched the whole scene from the front door of her tea shop — shook her head. _They were probably trying to see if he'd do something 'perverted' to give them an excuse to beat him up_, she mused to herself, surprised that she was making _**that**_ sort of conclusion about them. _Nanako-san probably sensed what they wanted to do, then moved to cut them off at the knees._

She then blinked on feeling Kaoru's arms warmly pull her into the other woman's embrace. Haruka didn't resist, allowing her head to fall on the healer's shoulder. "It's hard to accept certain truths, isn't it?" Kaoru whispered.

"They actually LIKE beating Keitarō up?" Haruka wondered, horrified at the idea of two nominally nice women like Narusegawa Naru and Aoyama Motoko being like THAT deep down when it came to Keitarō.

A sigh answered her. "No, they don't like it…but because they feel they have every right to punish him for whatever 'transgression' he may have done to them or others, they've come to develop an automatic knee-jerk reaction whenever something odd happens and he just happens to have the ill luck to be in the immediate vicinity. Especially if Shinobu happens to be close by; they know she's more sympathetic to him, thus they make themselves 'extra vigilant' around him when it comes to her." Kaoru wryly smiled. "It's starting to become a dangerous addiction to them, Haruka-san. And as much for their sakes as for Keitarō's, they need to be broken of that addiction as soon as possible."

Haruka frowned. "By not standing up for him…"

"Keitarō's basically stopped trusting you at all," the healer finished. "In effect, he no longer sees you as family, just as he doesn't see his parents, adopted sister and grandmother as family." As Haruka winced — she could imagine what the reaction would be with Kanako if she learned her "Onii-chan" effectively wanted her forever out of his life, never to be allowed to see him again — Kaoru reached up to gently ruffle her hair in reassurance. "Save for Taeko-sama, Keitarō has felt totally alone in the world over the last year. That's how he was able to ultimately convince her to become his genetic twin sister yesterday. He doesn't see her as the evil monster that's haunted the Urashima Clan since 1603. He sees her as a person who was trapped by his own relatives' very dishonourable actions all those years ago — just like he was trapped into becoming manager when he came here last year without any warning from his grandmother or you — and who deserved the chance to finally live her life under her own control. By becoming one of us, Taeko-sama is forever free of the containment and loyalty spells Master Hosan forced on her…and was able to keep her magic along the way."

The tea shop matron snorted. "A lot of Motoko-chan's relatives wouldn't like hearing that."

"Then they'll have to break themselves of their outdated world-views and see the Universe for what it truthfully is, Haruka-san," Kaoru warned. "Taeko-sama has got a long list of people she just can't wait to curse for all the things they forced her to do over the years. A lot of those people are practitioners of Motoko's family Art."

Haruka sighed. Practitioners of the Shinmei-ryū — even if their work as demon hunters and exorcists did earn them praise and respect from many quarters — did show a level of arrogance when they dealt with some people. Part of that came from the fact that during the Tokugawa period, those who trained in the ways of the God's Cry School were employed by the Shōgun as the official demon exorcists of the realm. That gave them the moral equivalent rank of the highest samurai; they could even talk down to various daimyō if their duties brought them face to face with local leaders. It didn't translate into total success when they went forth to carry out their missions for the Shōgun; against the first generations of tōshi who began appearing in Japan in the wake of the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, warriors of the Shinmei-ryū found themselves utterly helpless, often being sent back to their relatives missing their heads.

To Motoko, confronting a tōshi — the Kyoshō Academy, home of those who saw themselves as the spiritual inheritors of the people who had forged Cáo Wèi, the northern of the Three Kingdoms during that bloody period of China's history, was just up the coast from Hinata in the old fishing town of Ninomiya — was the ultimate nightmare.

And now…

"Why does Keitarō see himself MARRIED to that tōshi?" Haruka then pleaded.

"In essence, it's the same reason he accepted Taeko-sama as his sister," Kaoru stated. "In his eyes, his family — specifically his grandmother — tried to kill an innocent woman who was then in love with his granduncle. Getting her out of that room in the underground tunnels and helping ensure she got a new and healthy body was the right and proper thing to do. The bond-mating between them…" She chuckled. "Well, that was quite unexpected in both their eyes, but welcome in the end. To Keitarō, it gives him someone who will love him and trust him totally…which is worlds better than dealing with a mean, spiteful girl — as he has often seen her — like Naru or an absentminded airhead like Mutsumi." As Haruka winced yet again on hearing things she would never have expected from her cousin of all people, Kaoru added, "As for Karumi-san, it's a perfect way of striking…"

A beeping sound echoed from the healer's smock. Sighing, Kaoru gave Haruka an apologetic kiss on the cheek before she shifted over to pull out a small candybar cell phone from her pocket. Tapping the talk button, she called into it, "Shiina."

"_Dóbroe útro, továrišč_," a voice called back with a curious mixture of accents.

A smile crossed the healer's face. "Hey, Tanya! Where are you?"

Haruka grinned on recognizing the name of the person Kaoru was now speaking to: Tanya Lipińsky, the token foreign character in _Kita-e: White Illumination_, who was a Russian-born Polish girl — as note her family name — that had travelled to Hokkaidō to apprentice under a local glass-maker. "We just made geosynchronous orbit over Earth," that voice explained in accented Japanese. "Everyone else from the village is alright, including the children."

The healer perked. "Who's…?"

"Kozue's watching over the little ones right now. Since Otako's still trying to get things organized on the factory itself, we're just taking a wait-and-see posture." A pause, and then Tanya hummed. "What are you doing on Earth right now?"

"Was called down here by the Noukiites when they had to deal with three trauma cases thanks to cellular disruptor fire from one of the observers based in a town south of Tōkyō. I came down here to meet up with the relatives. Ended up giving my current host a needed dose of intimate therapy along the way. I'll be down here for a bit."

"_Da_, I understand," Tanya called back.

Kaoru then perked. "Of, if you can, could you see if you can come down here, too? The girls who were working with the observers here in Hinata want to move into one of the local hot springs hotels; the current manager's willing to turn it into a hostel for us. The place looks like it needs some serious renovation work; he's the only one who's been available to perform the work and we're dealing with over eleven hectares of land."

"As soon as I can, I'll come down," Tanya promised.

"Bless you, Tanya-chan."

"I'll call when Keiša's awake, Kaoša."

"Dōmo."

The link was soon cut. Gazing at the healer, Haruka watched as tears of relief appeared in Kaoru's grey eyes. Watching as the other woman tried not to break down and weep at the incredibly shocking events that had overcome her and her people, the tea shop owner found herself smiling in sympathy as her eyes fell on the nearby alarm clock, which now read 5:09 AM. Taking a deep breath, she then gazed on her current companion. "People are going to look back on today and ask what were they doing when the Avalonians came to Earth," she said.

Kaoru gazed in amusement at her. "How would you answer that?" she wondered.

"I'd say I was making love to one of them."

That made the healer's eyes go wide. "Haruka…"

With a content smile, Haruka reached over to gently pull the other woman closer to her. "Right now, Sensei, _you_ need some intimate therapy," she whispered before they kissed…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) **Matsumoto Sachiyo**, **Ichikawa Emi** and **Onoue Kikuko** are characters who have only appeared in the _Love Hina_ anime series; all three girls appeared in the first episode, "All-Girls Dorm with Outdoor Bath: Hot Springs." Normally, I base my fanfic stories on the applicable manga series and use the appropriate manga characters, but I gladly include anime characters in my stories if I feel they can be of use for the plot. I've always done this with the characters of **Lum's Stormtroopers** (**Megane**, **Chibi**, **Perm** and **Kakugari**) from the _Urusei Yatsura_ anime series. Note that these days, I give the Stormtroopers the birth names **Aisuru Satoshi**, **Urayamu Akira**, **Shitto Kōsuke** and **Daremo Hiroyuki** respectively; their given names have appeared from time to time on Japanese _Yatsura_ websites and their family names are my creations, dating back to _The Senior Year_ stories. All four of these boys actually appeared unnamed in the manga story "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" (manga episode #3); in the anime, they appeared in the second episode, "It's Raining Oil All Over Town" (anime episode #1-2).

2) The name of Motoko's high school was never given in the _Love Hina_ manga or anime. I give the school the name of the _Mikasa_, the famous British-built pre-dreadnought battleship that served as the flagship of the Japanese fleet at the **Battle of Tsu-shima** against the Russians on 27-28 May 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War. _Mikasa_ was named in tribute to **Mount Wakakusa** (_Wakakusa-yama_) — also called "Mount Mikasa" (_Mikasa-yama_) — in Nara Prefecture near the ancient Japanese capital; this was before the practice of naming battleships after the old Japanese imperial provinces became standard in the Imperial Navy. _Mikasa_ is the only pre-dreadnought battleship still in existence; she is currently drydocked in Yokosuka right next to the joint Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force/United States Navy base on the waterfront.

3) Some might say that Keitarō's reaction to the feelings of his adopted sister **Urashima Kanako** as they're depicted here would be out of character for him, but it was emphasized in _Love Hina_ that he has **_always_** viewed her ONLY as his sister despite her not being genetically related. Given his devotion in seeking out his "promise girl," it's clear to me that Keitarō would **_never_** contemplate being intimate with Kanako even if something happened to Naru; after all, there's the original "promise girl," **Otohime Mutsumi**, effectively waiting in the wings. The promise he made to Kanako only indicated that they would run the Hinata-sō together. In Keitarō's eyes, nothing was ever said about their becoming married; that was Kanako's assumption. Given her single-minded determination to break him from pursuing the "promise girl" — as witness her actions near the end of the manga series when she was made temporary manager of the Hinata-sō while Keitarō was off in America, which drove all the girls out save for Naru as she moved to restore the Hinata-sō into a hotel — it wouldn't take much in my eyes to make Keitarō stop viewing Kanako's crush on him as cute and see it as something he wouldn't want to touch with a ten-metre cattle prod.

4) Translations: **Wafū Chabō Hinata** — Literally "Hinata Japanese Traditional Tea Room," the official name of what is often called the **Hinata Café**; **Genkan** — The small entrance patio just inside the main door leading into a Japanese home or business, where visitors take off their shoes before putting on slippers and walking inside; **Tatami** — Flooring material always used in traditional Japanese homes, traditionally composed of a rice straw core covered in soft rush straw (these days, tatami mats have cores made of compressed wood chip boards or polystyrene foam); **dataPADD** — Short for "**data personal archival display device**" (the short term is taken from _Star Trek_), this is a combination computer/communications device that is the same size as a laptop machine; **Daimyō** — The term (derived from the combination of "great" [_dai_] and the first part of the term _myōden_ ["private land"]) applied to the regional territorial lords that ruled vast tracts of land in feudal Japan; **Dóbroe útro** — Good morning; **Továrišč** — Comrade (also translated as "adventuring companion"); **Da** — Yes.

5) Urashima Taeko's given name is written with the kanji **妙子**, meaning "mysterious child." This is not a direct translation of her original Korean name "T'aeja," written in han'gŭl as **태자** and hanja (Chinese characters used in Korean) as **太子**, meaning "extreme child." I originally wanted to do a direct translation from "T'aeja," but such would be said "Taiko" in Japanese, which is not a typical girl's name in that country.

6) Master **Hosan Hirosuke** — and his final heiress, Major **Deannette Antonia "Dean" Raeburn** — are both characters I mention from time to time in my stories.

Hirosuke was an immortal — not of the same type as those depicted in _Highlander_, who can be killed via beheading — born five millennia ago in modern-day Tibet and eventually made his way to Japan around the time of the Asuka period (538-710 C.E.), later coming to become a personal servant answerable only to the Heavenly Sovereign. Along the way, he developed his own school of martial arts, which he eventually came to call the **Tensei-ryū** ("Heaven's Star School"); he would eventually establish his dōjō on a small islet off the coast of Hokkaidō called **Watari-shima** (which in reality was an old name for the northernmost of the Home Islands). His immortality was guaranteed thanks to his blood being infused by very dense particles of **mesonium** (also known as "meson"), a stable trans-uranium material I first introduced in _The Senior Year_ which — as I describe it in _The Icemaidens and the Philosopher's Stone_ — is the "atom of the mind and soul…and thus, of magic." As meson bonds easily with the soul of a living person, Hirosuke would eventually become one of the most powerful beings alive on Earth, only surpassed by his multiple millennia-old "father," known today by the name **Josef Wilhelm ****_Freiherr_**** von Taserich** and seen as an adopted son of old Prussia. As noted in the flashback scene in Part 52 of _Phoenix From the Ashes_, Master Hosan became quite disenfranchised by the rapid pace of modernization in Japan during the Meiji and Taishō years; atop that, he also became incredibly sickened by the behaviour of the leaders of the militarist movement running the country in the early Shōwa years when it came to nations like Korea and China. This ultimately drove him to commit seppuku in 1937, allowing his knowledge — all _**five thousand years**_ of it! — to be infused into the mind of his last student, Dean Raeburn. This effectively made her the new Grandmaster of the Tensei-ryū.

As for Dean, she was born in 1867 in the village of Queenston on the Niagara River in Ontario; today, the village is part of the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake. The daughter of a wealthy landowner, Dean was orphaned when she was a teenager by a greedy uncle. Forced to flee for her life, she made her way into what then was part of the Northwest Territories (modern-day Alberta and Saskatchewan) in the mid-1880s after the opening of the Canadian Pacific Railway, where she was forced to scratch out a living for herself wandering from town to town. A sympathetic elder of the **Niitsítapi** (the Blackfoot) directed her to a cave near modern-day Fort Saint John in northeast British Columbia, where she found a **Power Jewel**, a three billion year-old focusing crystal of mesonium that was infused with god-like levels of ki energy. As Dean was an orphan who had endured hardship growing up — plus was a "bearer of life" — the Jewel accepted her as its Host, thus making Dean a **Jewel Warrior** (the concept of which I first explored in detail in my fanfic _Wanderers_). Made effectively immortal by the Jewel and becoming as powerful as Captain Marvel (Billy Batson), Dean would eventually become Hirosuke's student and adopted daughter in the 1920s and 1930s; she would eventually view him as her "Papa-sensei." After Hosan's death, Dean would join the Canadian Army to fight in World War Two, later coming to lead a group of metahuman warriors she called the **War Hawks** (officially, the **First Canadian Specialized Warfare Unit** [**1 CSWU**]), which fought and defeated Axis metahumans in defence of North America and later in the liberation of Europe. Retiring in 1954, Dean went into space to teach other Jewel Warriors how to use their Power Jewels and the neutronium swords — the **Cat's Claw** blades — that came with them. Dean does return to Earth from time to time; she is, to this day, subject to emergency recall to duty at the order of the Prime Minister of Canada…but given the overwhelming power and skill — think of her as a heady mixture of Captain Marvel, the Batman (Bruce Wayne) and the Punisher (Frank Castle) — she can bring to a fight, such a recall could lead to unbelievable levels of destruction. As a joke, the signal button in the Prime Minister's office in Ottawa that would have Dean come back is marked with a sign reading "**_Press ONLY in case of pending holocaust!_**"

As an aside, Master Hosan was the man who — a thousand years ago — developed the meta-psionic process that would allow people to retain knowledge of past martial arts masters and add onto it to create a psychic "database" of knowledge. This began the process that would, in 1808, see to the awakening of the being known today as **Moroboshi Negako**, making her Hirosuke's spiritual "daughter."

7) _Kita-e_ (literally "northward") is the name of three dating simulation video games developed by Red Entertainment and published by Hudson Soft. Set in Hokkaidō, the games — _White Illumination_ (released in 1999 for the Sega Dreamcast system), _Diamond Dust_ (released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2 system) and _Diamond Dust + Kiss is Beginning_ (released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2) — are the standard dating simulation game storyline fare; I was attracted to these games (as I was to other such games like _Tokimeki Memorial_, _Sentimental Graffiti_ and _Sister Princess_) due to the incredible artwork done in character designs displayed in art books that were produced as a way of introducing the characters to as wide of an audience as possible.

I purchased the art book for _White Illumination_ while I worked in Korea; this is how I became familiar with the characters of the series. **Shiina Kaoru** is a twenty-four year old medical student at a local university; she originally hails from the city of Otaru; she is the oldest of the eight characters the player meets in _White Illumination_. **Tanya Lipińsky** — I modified the family name to proper Polish spelling, including the accent mark over the "n" (**Ń** in the Polish alphabet represents the palatal nasal consonant sound like the Spanish **Ñ**, which slurrs the "n" as in _pi__ñ__ata_) — is a sixteen year-old girl from Russia (thought with obvious Polish ancestry as note her family name) who came to Hokkaidō to work as a glass-maker's apprentice. The "Megumi-chan" Kaoru speaks to Haruka here is **Aida Megumi**, the youngest of the characters in _White Illumination_ at fifteen and a girl that is similar emotionally to Maehara Shinobu from _Love Hina_. And the "Kozue" Tanya spoke of is **Satonaka Kozue**, a seventeen year-old cosplayer, video gamer and e-mail junkie; in essence, she's the spoiled rich girl of the cast.

As an aside, only _Diamond Dust_ and _Diamond Dust + Kiss is Beginning_ made the transition to anime; a twelve-episode anime series called _Kita-e: Diamond Dustdrops_ was produced in 2004 as a combined adoption of the storylines in the second and third game series. Said anime series was later brought to North America by ADV Films under the title _Diamond Daydreams_. A parallel manga series under the _Diamond Dustdrops_ title was also published in a single volume in 2005.

8) The **Zephyrites** are genetic cousins to the Avalonians and the Sagussans; I first mentioned them in _The Senior Year_ story "Arrive Reiko-chan." In the universe of this series, the Zephyrites are not the galactic superpower they were in _TSY_; here, they form a sort of symbiotic relationship with the Noukiites somewhat parallel to the "dual monarchy" situation that existed in Austria-Hungary between 1867-1918…thought without the incredible pressures nationalities beyond the Austrians and Hungarians forced on the rulers in Vienna and Budapest. The quasi-political government of Zephyrus and those colony planets directly ruled by it is known here as the **United Churches of Zephyrus**, commonly called the "Six Churches."

9) A **Damage Controlman** (short-form **DC**) is a rating (trade occupation) in both the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard whose members serve as the maintenance and emergency repair specialists aboard ships and in shore installations. Their overall responsibilities include shipboard damage control, ship stability, firefighting, fire prevention, and CBR (chemical, biological and radiological [nuclear]) warfare defence. They also instruct other shipboard personnel in the methods of damage control and CBR defence, plus repair damage control equipment and systems. **John Magill**'s combined rate (rank) and rating title would be **DCC** ("Chief Damage Controlman"); his pay grade would be E-7 (**Chief Petty Officer**), which has the equivalent NATO rank code of OR-7.

10) The **Battle of Sekigahara**, fought on 21 October 1600 in present-day Gifu Prefecture to the east-northeast of Kyōto, was the final engagement between the various forces competing for overall control of the nation. Victory at Sekigahara by the forces of **Tokugawa Ieyasu** (1543-1616) would propel him to the position of Shōgun three years later, allowing him to fully unite the nation after the bitter fighting of the Sengoku ("Warring States") period (1467-1573). The **Tokugawa period** — also known as the **Edo period** in honour of the place where Tokugawa and his successors set up their government; today, Edo is known as **Tōkyō** — would last until 1868, when the **Meiji Restoration** saw a massive transformation of government and society that would see Japan embrace the ways of the West and move to catch up with Europe and America.

11) Tanya's use of the nickname **Keiša** for Kaoru's daughter — her Terran name is **Shiina Keiko** — and her calling Kaoru herself **Kaoša** follows the standard Russian convention of creating a diminutive form of a person's given name as a term of endearment. In effect, Tanya is calling Kaoru and her daughter by the Russian version of "Kei-chan" and "Kao-chan" respectively. As an aside, the "**Š**" in the Scientific Romanization system for Russian symbolizes the voiceless palato-alveolar fricative sound that is similar to the "sh" in _sh__eep_; when one can't use the caron mark over the "s," this sound is always written "sh." When you see a "**ŠČ**" combination — which, in Russian, is actually a single letter — it represents the same voiceless palatal-alveolar fricative sound as **Š** but would be slightly extended and slurred as if one was making the noise to shush someone quiet. And the accute accent over vowels indicates the stress point of the word.


	4. Relatives Come to Town…and Friends, Too!

Hinata Station, an hour after breakfast…

Given its location between the western slopes of Ōgusu-yama and the shores of the Sagami Sea, the city of Hinata was rather isolated when it came to local transportation networks from the remainder of its home prefecture. Fortunately, the Keikyū Zushi Line — which had originally been constructed as a branch of that company's main line connecting the Minato Ward of Tōkyō with Kawasaki, Yokohama and Yokosuka — had been designed with a potential extension in mind from its original terminus at Shin-Zushi Station down to a new station in Hinata near the intersection of the spa city's namesake street and National Route 134. First opened in 1990, the Hinata Extension was quite the money generator for its parent organization thanks to the popularity of the hot springs at the Hinata-sō and neighbouring hotels…though the service nearly crashed in the spring of 2008 when public use of the hot springs at the Hinata-sō was closed thanks to Urashima Hina. Fortunately, ridership on the Hinata Extension remained somewhat lucrative since there were university students residing in the town who needed to take public transportation to their schools. But — like many other places that had suffered because of the transformation of the Hinata-sō from hotel to all-girls dorm house — there were business executives at the Keikyū offices in Tōkyō that would gladly wish all sorts of curses on the matriarch of the Urashima Clan of Hayama…and who supported her grandson's current moves to have the property legally transferred to his own control.

"Eh?! Keitarō-san is moving to seize the Hinata-sō?!"

A chuckle answered. "Not exactly, Tsuruko-san," the middle-aged man in the relaxed clothes said as he and the beautiful raven-haired woman with the dark grey eyes dressed in the robes of a Shintō shrine maiden rode the train into Hinata-eki. "What's happening is that — since he has no means by which to pay the property taxes for the upcoming fiscal year and that his grandmother has, to his knowledge, done nothing to prepare such payments for the Hinata-sō — Keitarō-kun came to conclusion that his grandmother totally ABANDONED the property to be seized by the city authorities come the start of April. To prevent that and find some way to generate the necessary revenue to keep the property in his family, he is moving to have the Kanagawa Prefecture Court transfer legal ownership of the Hinata-sō to him. Once that's done, he can concentrate on ways of getting new revenue into the property so he can pay the property taxes and make a successful business of that. To do that means he has to turn the place back into a hotel or allow many more tenants — including men — to move in."

Hearing that, Aoyama Tsuruko nodded in understanding. She had been contacted by the local police box in Kyōto early Thursday morning concerning the horrifying events the night before surrounding her sister and those evil aliens who had inserted themselves all over Earth over the last several decades for whatever nefarious purposes they ultimately had. Learning that the Noukiites — who clearly were a noble and civilized race ready to aid those less fortunate than they — had taken Motoko and her friends to their squadron's hospital ship now in orbit, Tsuruko then had to calm down her understandably upset parents, grandparents and other clan elders, all of whom wanted to get their hands on the monster that had nearly killed Motoko and rip him to shreds. That had taken almost the whole day…not to mention a visit from a sympathetic Noukiite priest — called down by an Imperial Marines platoon commander; there had been a group of Terran-form Avalonians living close to the Aoyama family dōjō — who was quite detailed in explaining what would happen to Tarash dai-Joranth once he came under the care of the prison wardens subordinate to Her Imperial Majesty's High Warlord of Hichkyech'eng. Once said elders were satisfied that Tarash would literally be twisted mentally into something he feared greatly — apostasy was a capital crime on Phentax Two — Tsuruko arranged to take the first Friday morning train from Kyōto to Tōkyō.

On arriving at Tōkyō-eki, she had the surprising luck to meet up with Horie Haruhiko. A senior executive working for Toyota at their world headquarters in the city of the same name in Aichi Prefecture near Nagoya, he was the estranged father of Motoko's very good friend Narusegawa Naru. Haruhiko had been separated from his beloved daughter after he was forced to divorce his wife when poor Naru was ten; by then, Naru's mother Yui was already making plans to marry the man who would become Naru's stepfather and wanted to make sure that Haruhiko wouldn't have any influence on his child's life whatsoever. That had badly hurt the man; he loved his daughter greatly and wanted the best for her…but because he — as he would explain to Motoko's sister on their trip down from Tōkyō Station — privately feared that Naru's mother would embezzle all the funds he had set aside for her, he felt he had no choice but to comply.

On hearing the bitterness in the man's voice when he explained about the whole situation, Tsuruko could only shake her head. She didn't know what the actual truth concerning the breakup of Naru's parents was and didn't really think it was her business to learn that…but since Haruhiko was at least making the effort to look in on his hurt girl now, he deserved a chance to prove himself.

"How will this change the situation concerning the original residents?" she then asked as the train came to a stop at the station and they rose to step off.

He sighed. "For your sister, no change at all. Your family pays for the rent and I doubt Keitarō-kun will want to change it. As for my daughter…" He sighed as they moved through the security gates before he turned to give the Shinmei-ryū kendō-ka a wry smile. "I'm a control fanatic deep down, Tsuruko-san. That's partially what led to the breakup between my wife and I. I always need to make damn sure that everything I'm affiliated with is as healthy and operating at peak proficiency as possible. My ex-wife hated that about me and feared that I would literally cripple Naru-chan by acting that way around her. Yet it turns out that when she made the agreement with Keitarō-kun's grandmother concerning my daughter staying at the Hinata-sō two years ago, that's what ended up happening. Naru-chan stays there free of charge…yet without being forced to take personal responsibility about helping out there with things like maintenance and housekeeping. I'll be happy to pay for whatever rent that Keitarō-kun wishes to charge after he becomes the owner of the property, but I'll make damn sure that Naru-chan understands that she won't be allowed to freeload…eh?!"

"Horie-sama? Aoyama-sama?"

"Hai?" Haruhiko asked as two police officers came up to him.

Both saluted. "Mayor Takada has asked us to escort you to him. Konno-sensei is also here. The mayor will be happy to take you to your meeting with Taeko-sama at the Hinata-sō."

"'Taeko-sama?'" Tsuruko asked.

The older of the police officers gave her a knowing look. "T'aeja-sama."

That phrase made Motoko's sister turn very pale…

* * *

Soon to join the travellers from Kyōto and Toyota for the small trip up the Hinata-dōri to the city's namesake hot springs hotel was Konno Hikari, Mitsune's paternal aunt. A best-selling science fiction author who was born in Ōsaka and was currently based in Kyōto near the old Imperial Palace, she had been the woman who had sparked her niece's interest in writing. However, try as she might to force Mitsune to get off her butt and publish things, her parents' interference — to say anything of their loud demands for full control over their underage child's earnings; Hikari wanted to make sure they never saw a single yen of it since they'd turn around and waste it on frivolous things — and her niece's refusal to stand up to them until she finally fled the family home in the Mejiro part of Tōkyō's Toshima Ward to join her schoolmate Narusegawa Naru at the Hinata-sō never saw anything printed. While Hina hadn't been forbidden by Mitsune's parents to keep Hikari away from their only child — unlike Haruhiko; his ex-wife had been adamant on making sure he NEVER got the chance to see his daughter now that she was effectively living on her own away from her mother's supervision — there had been no encouragement by Hina to make Mitsune go forth and meet with her aunt now that she was effectively free of any interference from her parents.

"It's like Hina wanted to give my niece, your daughter and Tsuruko-san's sister a place to take a chance to relax, get their bearings back and go forth to plot new lives for themselves…but never followed through with what she did by helping make them understand that they have to _work_ to make good futures for themselves," Hikari stated as the mayor drove his personal car — a sturdy 2007 Toyota Land Cruiser, Haruhiko had noted with typical company pride — to the small plaza beside the Wafū Chabō Hinata. "And much that I'm glad that Hina did that for Mitsu-chan, I'm not pleased at all to hear about her borrowing money from Hina's grandson and not bothering to find some way to pay him back."

Haruhiko nodded as the mayor parked the car and everyone moved to step out. "I've heard about all the things my daughter's done to the poor man ever since he came here. Much that I understand her wanting to protect herself from perverts and the like, I remember Keitarō-kun as a boy. He was the nicest and most likeable lad you'd ever want to meet." A shake of the head. "She got her temper from her mother, that's for sure!"

Tsuruko was quiet as they made their way onto the sidewalk. Much that she suspected that her sister had also gone well past acceptable limits when it came to Urashima Keitarō, the fact that the demon inside the Yōkatana Hinata was finally free of the containment spells Hosan Hirosuke had put on it back in 1603 — and was currently seen by everyone in Hinata as Keitarō's adopted twin sister in a Terran-form Avalonian body cloned off his DNA, Urashima Taeko — was enough to put the damper on her normal reaction to her sister's many acts of stupid arrogance, especially towards the man who made sure she had a roof over her head. Part of her was sorely tempted to negotiate an end to the lease on Motoko's room at the Hinata-sō, then arrange for her to be sent back to Kyōto once she was free of Noukiite medical care.

Like Motoko, Tsuruko had been saturated with many recounts of the story of the Great Fire of 1603, which saw half of Kyōto's population of two hundred thousand killed by — as the official history of the city reported — the combination of dozens of refuse fires that had gone out of control thanks to a very forceful dry summer wind.

All members of the Shinmei-ryū knew better.

A minor samurai retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Urashima Tadaoki, had brought back with him from Korea a solid steel fireplace poker he had found in a burnt-out manor home in the mountains near modern-day Sŏul. Due to his losing his weapon in the Battle of Sekigahara when he fought at the side of Toyotomi's successor Tokugawa Ieyasu, he had the fireplace poker reforged as a katana, a beautiful weapon in the Muramasa style that had such a fine edge that it was said to be able to cleave off the the wings of a horsefly without touching the rest of the insect's body. Unfortunately, Tadaoki never realized that his new blade was possessed by the spirit of a now VERY angry tokkaebi named T'aeja, who was quite willing to do anything to seek retribution for the mutilation of its own body and avenge the near-wrecking of its spiritual home country at the hands of the hated "pirates of the Wa." Once it was able to possess Tadaoki, the rampage begin…and wouldn't stop until Kyōto was a smoking ruin, thousands of samurai were dead, tens of thousands of helpless civilians were also either dead or homeless, the Shinmei-ryū nearly wiped out to the very last warrior, the Emperor and his family also rendered homeless and the survivors owning their very lives to a man who had been born over forty-five centuries before in the mountains of modern-day Tibet and had sworn his eternal service to the Imperial House of Japan since the Asuka period.

Since that time, the Yōkatana Hinata was kept by members of Tadaoki's family though it was always available for use by any Shinmei-ryū warrior in repayment for the near-extinction of that particular school of martial arts in the Great Fire. Scant few members of the Aoyama branch of the Shinmei-ryū wanted anything to do with the Cursed Blade, though there were members of their sister school controlled by a branch of the Konoe Clan — one of the Five Regent Houses descent of the Fujiwara Clan — who had considerable experience with the Yōkatana in battle. One of those people was the current Director of the Kansai Magical Association, Konoe Eishun, a close friend of the famous Thousand Master himself and a former member of the Crimson Wing group who had helped save the inhabitants of Mars' magical twin planet of Nerio from the plots of the Mage of the Beginning a few decades ago. And while Tsuruko certainly respected Eishun as a great swordsman and a wise man, the fact that he would — once he finally got word of what just happened here — probably break down and cry like a baby on learning that his "beloved T'aeja-sama" was finally free at last had long convinced Motoko's sister that the man was also clearly insane.

Honestly…actually wanting to FREE a creature that had nearly killed the EMPEROR?!

"Ohayō, minna-san."

Surprised to hear that aged male voice, Tsuruko's head snapped over…

…and then she inwardly groaned on seeing the elderly arch-mage now standing at the bottom of the steps leading up to the Hinata-sō from the Wafū Chabō: Konoe Konoemon, the dean of the Mahora Academy and Director of the Kantō Magical Association. What was worse, his son Eishun and granddaughter Konoka — with her han'yō bodyguard and lover, Sakurazaki Setsuna, hovering close by — were also awaiting them. Surprised to see the four visitors from Mahora and Kyōto there, Mayor Takada hummed. "Um, excuse me, but I was told by Taeko-sama that no other guests would be here."

A chuckle answered. "More than understandable, young man," Konoemon stated as he exchanged polite bows with the newcomers. "However, when His Majesty wishes that all proper and due courtesy is extended to the being once known as the Lady T'aeja of Chosŏn — now the adopted sister of Urashima Keitarō-kun, Urashima Taeko-sama — to make her feel welcome here in Japan after being given such horrid treatment over the years, it has to be done."

Tsuruko tried not to moan. _Oh, ye gods! What made the Emperor think THAT?!_

The mayor of Hinata hummed. "Was it Tsukiko-sama that suggested this to His Majesty?"

A nod. "Hai, it was. We're here to analyze the full extent of Taeko-sama's magic and entreaty a working alliance between herself and the magicals of this land."

On hearing THAT, Tsuruko nearly collapsed to her knees in horror.

_Ye gods!_ she moaned to herself. _People can't be THAT stupid…! _

_…can they?!_

* * *

Observing the reaction of the representative of the Aoyama Clan, Setsuna tried not to grin too much on seeing how pale and sick the poor woman looked now.

Then again, it was more than understandable.

Having actually trained with the Yōkatana Hinata when she was a child and used it when she was older, Setsuna got the chance several times to converse with the spirit within. Given that she — as a han'yō born of a union between a human father and a karasutengu yōkai mother — shared a sort of spiritual kinship with the tokkaebi trapped in the Cursed Blade, they had become something akin to friends…though such never had progressed far thanks to the rather interesting complexities of the magical spells Hosan Hirosuke had put on the Yōkatana in 1603. Such — which given members of either school of the Shinmei-ryū the right to use the blade whenever such levels of power were actually needed to succeed in whatever mission said warrior faced — _always_ made sure that it would, when not in use, be returned to reside in the official family home of the descendants of Urashima Tadaoki…which, these days, was the Hinata-sō. And while it was a safe thing to do — with the Yōkatana in her hands, Setsuna could probably challenge Major Dean Raeburn herself to a sword duel and break even with the last heiress of Master Hosan and current grandmaster of the Tensei-ryū…even with the Canadian metahuman warrior possessing a blade forged of purest _**neutronium**_! — in the long term, it always made Setsuna sad that nothing had been done to address the true crime that had befallen T'aeja of Chosŏn all those years ago and give the tokkaebi its freedom.

That the "space angels" — as news pundits all over the world were now starting to call the Avalonians as a whole — residing now in Hinata had done that _**out of the goodness of their own hearts**_ had been all the proof needed in Setsuna's eyes that the alien bioroids could be a massive force for good on Earth if they were approached right and simply treated with respect.

If the "arrogant berks" — which had been the words Setsuna's teachers had used to describe members of the Konoe Shinmei-ryū's sister school — of the Aoyama Clan couldn't hack the idea of the Lady T'aeja living free as Urashima Taeko, that was just too damned bad…

* * *

Minutes later, inside the Detached Hall…

"Four hundred and ninety-six points," Konoka declared.

As the ghostly parchment that had flashed that number in glowing characters faded into the air over the main table, Taeko gently adjusted her glasses. "So now that you're more than satisfied that I'm a magical under your silly laws, can we stop this?"

A blushing Konoemon — who had to whack his son several times to prevent him from, as Tsuruko predicted, making a total ass of himself in front of Taeko — nodded as he rubbed the back of his balding head. "Hai, Taeko-sama. Now that we have a direct reading of the level of your magic via the Neuwied Test, we can officially enter you into the Book of Loyal Magicals for Kantō as an honoured guest of our nation. Of course, given your particular circumstances — that you were effectively _kidnapped_ all those years ago by your adopted brother's ancestor, literally _mutilated_ to become that fool man's new sword, then _trapped_ here since 1603 to serve people you clearly wished to have nothing to do with — His Imperial Majesty would desire that anything within reason that can be done to make your future stay in Japan all the more peaceful and happy for you and those you adopt as your family is done." He then winked at her. "In other words, we'd rather like it if there was NO repeat of 1603, Taeko-sama."

Taeko roared with laughter on hearing that flippant statement, and then she smiled as she sipped her tea. Also there representing the Urashima of Hinata was Dō Karumi acting on her fiancé's behalf; Keitarō didn't want to deal with any relation of Aoyama Motoko at this time and was currently exploring the tunnels under the grounds to determine what best to do with them. While Tsuruko hadn't been insulted by the snub — on stepping into the building, she had sensed the ki echoes of all the things that had been unleashed on the poor man by her sister; she also had been given the cold shoulder by young Maehara Shinobu when they had met in the banquet hall — the current landlord delivered onto her, she didn't particularly appreciate being forced to face TWO living nightmares at the same time, both with the power to determine whether or not Motoko would be allowed to stay here anymore.

"Well, that's more than understandable, Konoemon-ssi," Taeko then declared before she hummed. "And I can understand his request. Actually, it doesn't surprise me that Amaterasu's current descendant asked you to ask me that. He's long impressed me."

Everyone gaped. "He _**has**_, Taeko-sama?!" Hikari asked.

"Ne. You may recall on his birthday nine years ago that he openly acknowledged his blood-kinship with the rulers of Paekche through the descendant of King Muryŏng who became the mother of Emperor Yamabe…" She then caught herself. "Sorry! I forgot you use posthumous names here; I got that habit from Negako-sŏnbaenim!" As the others laughed, she said, "She was the mother of the Kammu Emperor." To Konoemon. "Konoemon-ssi, you may inform the current holder of Amaterasu's Throne that he has nothing to fear from me…save unless my family or those who seek out safety and peace on these grounds anytime in the future might be threatened. In fact, please take my letter unto him so he can read my words directly." With that, she handed a rolled parchment to him.

He bowed his head as he took it with both hands. "I will be honoured, Taeko-sama."

"Wonderful." A sigh before she gazed on the relatives of her three wounded tenants. "Now, as for you three. I realize that you may not have been informed of the full extent of your relatives' actions towards my brother over the last year, but I will say this once and for all: They will be forgiven…_**but not forgotten, much less allowed to be repeated**_. In other words, if Naru-ya and Motoko-ya can't find some way to control their tempers, the _next_ time they attack Keitarō-ya for whatever reason — if Karumi-ya here doesn't decide to deprive them of their _**hands**_! — will be quite embarrassing and _very_ painful for them!" As both Haruhiko and Tsuruko winced on hearing such a threat, Taeko turned to Hikari. "The same goes for Mitsune-ya if she continues to act like an undisciplined kisaeng and tries to _**steal**_ money from my brother. I hear that Avalonians can be very vicious when it comes to those who force themselves on their bonded soul-mates, especially _sexually_. You'll notice that Karumi-ya has a silver magatama on her ear, which marks her as an A-rank amongst those like her. Mitsune-ya wouldn't last five seconds against her."

Karumi took that time to crack her knuckles, which made very sharp sounds that caused Naru's father, Mitsune's aunt and Motoko's sister to openly wince. "In other words, the free lunch ends on the first of April," Keitarō's fiancée added. "The chances are good according to Tamasuke-kun here that we'll be able to take this whole business about the ownership of the property to court on Monday. Until the time comes that the judge declares my fiancé the legal owner of these grounds, we can't do anything about the fact that Naru and Mitsune don't pay a damned yen of rent. Now, given that we now plan to open this place to any Avalonian who wants to resettle here, the fact that two people — three if we count Shinobu-chan — are living here free of charge might not matter so much. But it's the principle of the thing. They need to stop being lazy, get off their butts and earn their way in this world. We know this world doesn't give people breaks. So they better smarten up. We've already had to drop-kick ONE selfish brat out of this place back to her stupid little island out in the Pacific. We'll be happy to make it a hat-trick."

Haruhiko and Hikari both nodded in understanding. Noting that, Karumi then focused her brown eyes on Tsuruko's grey ones, which made the Shinmei-ryū swordswoman openly wince as this tōshi — whose total ki levels were nothing short of _**explosive**_! — focused on her. "As for your little sister, since your family does pay for her living here, we can accept her living here as a tenant. But I'll tell you this right now, lady: We're possibly looking at a _**total rebuild**_ of this whole property. That's partially thanks to all the shock damage the frames of this place have taken in the last year from your sister pulling her stunts with her sword, not realizing there's such a thing as _air pressure_ that hurts people and things other than what she's trying to target. Fortunately, our new friends from outer space have the technology to help us do the rebuild of this place without any cost, so we won't be hitting you for part of the repair bill. But I'll make DAMN sure that the building will be rebuilt to the same code standards as my old high school across the bay from here. Ki users are heavy on the ground at Kyoshō; every time someone acted up when I was there, the repairs were done quickly and the town safety inspectors who came in afterwards were stunned at how much the building could tolerate all that abuse. I'll ALSO make damn sure that there are special reflectors put into this place that'll turn any of your sister's attacks right on her ass if she gets out of hand with my fiancé. Let's see how SHE likes being knocked through the sky all the way to _**Tomobiki**_ — that's FORTY KILOMETRES AWAY from here! — a few times!" She stood up. "I'm done."

With that, she headed out of the room. Taeko sighed as she noted how small Tsuruko seemed to have shrunk in the wake of such a tirade. "Tsuruko-ssi, I've always been curious about something," she said before sipping her tea. "Why is it that you all just decided to declare Motoko-ya the future grandmaster of your family school without asking HER opinion of what she might want to do with herself?" As Tsuruko jolted in shock, Taeko smirked. "I've been able to sense her thoughts since she first came here. While she is honoured that your relatives trust her with something as precious as that, there's always been a small part of her who's _resented_ being put on the spot like that when she was just _fourteen_. If you keep demanding so much of her, it wouldn't surprise me if she finally decided to WALK AWAY from your family once and for all time." As Tsuruko gaped at her, Taeko sighed. "Now, Kaoru-ya is awake down in the tea shop at the bottom of the hill. I suggest you all go down there to speak to her about when you can finally see your relatives while I escort Konoemon-ssi and his family over to Maria-ya's room so they can get to know her."

The others nodded…

* * *

The tunnels under the Hinata-sō, minutes later…

"You weren't too harsh on them, were you?"

"I was tempted," Karumi confessed as she leaned against the man she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt now that she would spend the rest of her life with. "Then again, I shouldn't be too surprised. Folks want to think the best of relatives, especially if they're direct descendants like sons and daughters. Not to mention siblings." She sighed. "I know you don't want to permanently break their spirits — and knowing how much your sister told you about them, I can understand wanting to let them down easy even after all the shit they've done to you over the last year — but there's a voice inside my head saying they're not going to take this lying down once they finally clue in to what's going on. This was their sanctuary from all the scary monsters out there…and you're moving to effectively destroy it behind their backs. And with the woman who championed them now in a coma somewhere out there, you moving to hit now…"

He smirked. Taeko had warned him that the chances were very good that once the blood ki wards that had kept Karumi locked away from the outside world were destroyed, the backlash would have either killed or severely maimed Urashima Hina wherever she was in the world at the time. While he hadn't got confirmation of anything about it, there had been e-mails from his parents — which he had automatically routed into his junk mail box without opening them, as he also had done with anything sent by Kanako — that had come in early that morning. He had forgotten the titles of those e-mails, but they had been marked with an "Urgent" tag…which, in his experience, was the normal sign that spam mail had been sent. Since he had a public e-mail address, he had to deal with spam for a long time, so there was that excuse to fling back at his parents should they raise a stink about not answering him…which was no different than what he had done to them for months.

_You'd think they'd get the message from the automatic recording the cell phone network produces whenever a number's been blocked by someone_, he mused to himself.

"Well, it's too bad. I've no time to deal with wounded sensibilities from people who see me more as a dumb idiot who doesn't deserve to think for himself than someone who has feelings and dreams." He sighed. "Even if he allowed the dreams to become the be-all and end-all of his life." He then shrugged. "And while I'm not too sure now about what Otohime-san thinks about it, it's as clear as rain to me that Narusegawa-san — while still wanting to get into Tōdai — doesn't allow childhood promises she would barely remember to rule her life. She looks on my cousin's old boyfriend as her current inspiration." Naru's memories of what happened when she had visited the Hinata-sō years ago had been confirmed by Taeko. "So I should do the same. Try for Tōdai because **_I_** want to go there, not because I promised Narusegawa-san I would go there. Now that running this place will be finally streamlined and put into better hands than mine…"

"Not to mention magical hands," she advised with a coy grin.

He nodded. While Keitarō hadn't officially asked Taeko to become the new landlady and manager of the Hinata-sō when the legal issues were finally put to rest, having her be the "public" face of the family running the show at the future hostel only made sense. While Yamamoto Eriko and her sisters hadn't endured any really hideous levels of abuse at the hands of their masters since their creation, there were Avalonians who had been raped and abused for YEARS by their masters now aboard the bioroid factory and all the other starships and space stations that were making cislunar space around Earth seem very crowded to the folks at NASA and Roskosmos. Many of them would — once permitted by the national government — be allowed to resettle in Japan, which would make a "female friendly" place like the Hinata-sō all the more appealing to them. While Keitarō's being an Avalonian by blood-adoption might make him far more acceptable to such suffering women than a normal Terran man, there was no sense in provoking any sort of panic attacks.

It was simply just not in Keitarō's nature.

That was one of the things that Karumi now found so attractive about the man.

_Honestly, what the fuck was Narusegawa thinking of when she rejected his attempt at trying to start something with her?!_ the sixty year-old tōshi in a body of a twenty year-old wondered as they walked down the corridor, looking into the now-empty side rooms that lined both walls. Once all of Kaolla Su's personal belongings — including what was in Room 301 at the front end of the south wing of the main building; in Taeko's eyes, there had been no sense in taking any chances after last night's idiocy — had been cleared out and sent back to Molmol, the Noukiites called down some combat sappers to tear through all the tunnels under the Hinata-sō to make sure any other potential surprises were neutralized once and for all. After another inspection of the tunnels by Taeko earlier that morning, they had been judged totally clear of any threats to the Hinata-sō or those living within it.

With that particular headache now finally out of his way, Keitarō found himself tempted to totally fill in the whole network once the major renovations got underway. There was simply no historical value in keeping such tunnels in place, especially in a high earthquake zone like Japan. Atop that, given that the Molmolites were all pretty much aware of magic, there was the chance that someone on that island might try to find some way to launch a sneak attack against the Hinata-sō by teleporting themselves into these tunnels — thus bypassing the wards surrounding the property on the surface — as they sought vengeance for Kaolla Su being "humiliated" by Urashima Taeko.

"They might try that once they get the official note from Tōkyō saying the brat's not allowed back into the country," Karumi warned. "Until then, they'll try to pursue it government-to-government. Even if they're not recognized by the government here."

Keitarō smirked. It had stunned him to learn that the "Kingdom of Molmol" only held diplomatic relations with _**twenty**_ nations worldwide, chief of which being mainland China. In the eyes of the governments of other nations like Japan and America, Molmol was seen as part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, whose main territory lay off to the northwest; in the eyes of the government of that young nation on the atoll of Majuro, the island of Molmol was a self-governing municipality but had not been granted any sort of legal independence by the Republic's legislature. In the end, the Republic of the Marshall Islands neither encouraged Molmol's claims of independence as a separate kingdom nor did anything to suppress such claims to the outside world…which, ironically, was actually quite normal behaviour when it came to outsiders who were forced to deal with that particular island and its inhabitants.

During the scramble for colonies in the Nineteenth Century by the Europeans, Molmol had been initially claimed by Spain in 1874 as an element of the Spanish East Indies. The island was legally transferred to Germany in 1884, becoming part of a protectorate that was administered by the colony of German New Guinea. The island — not to mention the rest of the Marshall Islands — was transferred to Japan in 1919 as part of the South Pacific Mandate set up by the League of Nations after World War One and the German overseas colonies were divided amongst the victorious Allied Powers. In all that time, little had ever been done by the governments in Madrid, Berlin and Tōkyō to solidify their claims on the island; only when World War Two loomed in the horizon were military troops landed on Molmol to make it part of the network of island bases set up to keep the Americans from striking directly at the Home Islands. However, save for neutralizing the Japanese naval and army air forces based there and establishing a surface and anti-submarine blockade to prevent resupply, there was no liberation of Molmol as was done on Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands to the west of the Marshall Islands in November of 1943. In essence, Molmol's Japanese occupiers — and their effective native prisoners — were left to "wither on the vine" for the rest of the war.

Naturally — and understandably — the Molmolites didn't care too much for the Americans who finally came in the late summer of 1945 to "free" them…only to incorporate the island into the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands set up to administer a far-flung archipelago of islands and coral reefs extending from the International Date Line to the Philippines. Even more so, it didn't impress the natives at all when the Americans turned nearby Bikini and Enewetak Atolls into target sites for their atomic bombs, especially the Castle Bravo explosion of the first true thermonuclear hydrogen device on 1 March 1954 that spread all sorts of fallout across much of the Marshall Islands…and most likely reached all the way down to Molmol itself! More recently, the independence of the Marshall Islands — which had been loudly applauded by people in Molmol City — in 1986 had come hand-in-hand with a "compact of free association" treaty which delegated ALL defensive authority and responsibilities to Washington!

Naturally, that simply just wouldn't do.

While a part of Keitarō was acutely sympathetic to the Molmolites wanting to take full control over their own affairs — the island's population of about 250,000 outweighed the rest of the Republic of the Marshall Islands on a four-to-one scale and would make an independent Kingdom of Molmol a little smaller than Barbados on the worldwide scale — from outsiders, that was tempered by the fact that most of the rest of the world viewed the natives as being quite…eccentric, almost to a degree that made many think of them as "deranged morons." They were brash and in-your-face to anyone whom they met that they hadn't accepted as friends or adopted members of their community. They simply didn't care a bit about respecting other cultures when they interacted with people in other nations. And they simply didn't even bother to try to learn the many truths about the big world beyond the shores of their little tropical paradise.

Thinking on that point, Keitarō then remembered Taeko once telling him that when Kaolla's classmates confronted her about her country of origin a half-year ago, she confessed that she hailed from the "deserts of Tōkyō"…which probably made all those poor kids who heard that shake their heads and wonder how stupid the gaijin barbarian really was.

And this was a girl who built military-grade weapons and robots for a HOBBY?!

That didn't begin to cover Kaolla's letters home about her adventures here in Japan…which always made the damned _**evening news**_ every time they were delivered to the Royal Palace! Even worse, each broadcast included film made by Kaolla's secret platoon of supporters living in Hinata, always depicting all the times Keitarō had been hurt by the princess, either by the usual "foot to the head" greeting or by one of the weapon systems she created like that mechanical version of Onsen Tamago he had seen stored down here the previous day; _Why the heck was she building THAT for?!_ he wondered on remembering that thing.

And worst of all when it came to Keitarō's suffering thanks to Kaolla making the evening news in Molmol, the news presenters who showed such footage always gushed over how much their princess's "big brother" loved to "play" with her!

_Note to self: Sic Nuna-ya on whatever Molmolites are in Hinata and make it known that this town is now a VERY hazardous place for them to live!_ he reminded himself as a churlish smile briefly crossed his face. _Let's see how_ they _like it for a change…!_

* * *

Hidden in places all over Hinata, a dozen people shuddered when chills froze their hearts…as if a cold wind just blew over their graves…

* * *

Sensing her fiancé's inner delight at his plotting some serious mayhem to a certain little brat's hidden supporters in town, Karumi could only beam with pride on noting how much their psi-bond and the automatic sharing of personal knowledge and experience between them was helping finally break Keitarō of some deeply-ingrained habits that might have impressed the adults when he was a kid…but was becoming a serious risk to his health and well-being now that he was an adult with adult responsibilities before him.

Of course, there was nothing wrong at all about being helpful and charitable to people who really needed it. Most tōshi that Karumi knew of were remarkably pleasant people when they dealt with outsiders, especially the young, old and defenceless. To attack kids Maehara Shinobu's age or younger was simply the lowest of the lows in any self-respecting tōshi's eyes; only the gods could help the stupid idiot that ever broke THAT rule and his or her peers got wind of it! And regardless of what the stupid, selfish bitch had done to Dō Karumi forty years ago that ultimately tore Urashima Kyōsuke from her, Urashima Hina did have her heart in the right place when she opened her family's hotel to four girls who were in desperate need of a place that was well clear of either uncaring relatives or overwhelming family obligations so they could get a better sense of control over their lives.

However, one couldn't hide from the damned world forever.

Any tōshi could tell anyone that.

This was the reason that people such as Karumi often went out of their way to seek out "normal" friends, lovers or family members to forge close emotional ties with. Regardless of what some idiots gladly said about the reborn warriors of the Three Kingdoms of China who now lived across Kantō, they were essentially normal people with normal dreams and hopes. Yes, the ugly politics that the souls of their past-selves loved to make their hosts engage in while within the pressure-cooker atmosphere of the Seven Battle Schools guaranteed that surviving to write the Centre Test and moving on to university was pretty iffy for a lot of tōshi…but once one DID get clear of places like Kyoshō, life pretty much became normal. There had been no threat at all to Kyōsuke once Karumi started dating him, no matter what that nosey bitch Hina or her other relatives loudly claimed to the contrary.

Well…

She smiled as Keitarō leaned down to give her a kiss of reassurance. _Yeah, not even Hina can run from the damned world now, all courtesy of Taeko-sama_, Karumi mused as she leaned her head against his shoulder. Blood ki wards — the non-magical version of the deadly defensive fields of energy most sorcerers of any stripe would erect around vital places such as their family homes — were based on the intent of the person setting up the ward in the first place and what purpose the ward was supposed to perform. From what Taeko told her that morning after inspecting the remnants of the wards in the tunnels, Hina's blood ki wards were meant to totally keep Karumi away from Kyōsuke. In that way, they had worked perfectly; Karumi had been contained to the point where her original body had begun to collapse in on itself as her fighting ki struggled to keep her alive in the absence of all forms of sustenance like food and water. Logically, they should have totally faded after Kyōsuke's death.

However, given Hina's underlying determination to ensure that the "evil tōshi bitch" would _**never**_ threaten her family even after having Kyōsuke taken from her, they stayed strong…and began to _grow_ in strength when the quasi-consciousness controlling the wards came to sense that Karumi was still ALIVE — in a way — and was nowhere close to joining her ancestors. Because of that, they ultimately began pulling in extra ki energy from their own creator, coming to badly affect Hina's health over the years, most likely to the point where she had to retire from running the Hinata-sō full-time in 2009 and go on vacation. This left her dangerously vulnerable since she was nowhere close to the Hinata-sō when the time came to finally break Dō Karumi out of her four decade-long prison.

It surprised Karumi that Hina was — according to Taeko — still alive, though most likely in intensive care in whatever hot springs town she had been visiting the day Keitarō allowed his sister to possess him and free his future wife to give her a new life for herself. _No doubt, the woman's stubbornness is keeping her from going to whatever hell she deserves_, Keitarō's fiancée mused as they moved to walk down the main corridor for the stairs leading back up to the surface. _She was like that back when she was a teenager, too!_

Well, wasn't it a pity that the power backlash from purposefully-wrecked blood ki or magical blood wards on the caster — if the caster was still alive — would unleash torrents of sheer agony, worlds worse than what the four victims of Mizote Toshiko's brother on Wednesday would be experiencing now if they weren't doped up on a mountain of pain-killers. IF Hina ever woke up from what Taeko had done to her, she would be either permanently crippled or a mental vegetable for the rest of her short life…which would make any sort of questions concerning owning the Hinata-sō — were they ever brought up again in some court challenge by Keitarō's parents or other relatives — effectively mute. Of course, by the time something like that happened, the Avalonians would have finally been allowed to migrate down to Earth from space _en masse_, which would immediately increase demands for new housing across Japan and elsewhere. If what Karumi sensed from Mayor Takada about extra plans concerning the Hinata-sō…

"We'll have to ask him what he wants to do," Keitarō noted. "He's hinted when we've met before that he's got bigger ideas than just turning this place back into a hotel to get the tax money flowing back into the city coffers again, not to mention help businesses in town earn more income from tourists. He didn't tell me more, but I think he views the changes here as the cornerstone to a much bigger development project that's going to shake up things here pretty hard."

"He always was a go-getter," Karumi noted with a smile as she recalled the couple of times she had dated the current mayor of Hinata. "I'll just have to remind him of what he learned when he studied the nisei who fought for America in World War Two."

"What's that?"

"The motto of their 442nd Infantry Regiment," she stated. "'Go For Broke.'"

He laughed…

* * *

Pararakelse (north of the Equator halfway between Baker Island and Jarvis Island), liaison office of the United States Department of Magic to the Commonwealth of Pararakelse (local time: Thursday 18 February, two hours after lunch)…

"So what do you think of these Space Angels anyway?"

The physically twenty-something English witch sighed as she considered that. Corrine McMaster was a normal-born — she was one of the last generations born in Britain who saw the term "muggleborn" as normal — from Liverpool who had graduated from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as part of Ravenclaw in 1964, well before the rise of the Death Eaters under Lord Voldemort and the First Blood War killed thousands until the Dark Lord was put down by the actions of Lily Potter in the fall of 1981. Having found little fulfilling work in her homeland with its anti-muggleborn prejudices, Corrine — like many of her generation — migrated abroad to find her fortunes elsewhere.

She eventually came to Pararakelse, a self-governing unincorporated territory of the United States with commonwealth status located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. An island the size of the Big Island of Hawai'i lying just north of the Equator, Pararakelse was geographically distinct from the Line Islands to the east and the Phoenix Islands to the west; geologists believed it had been formed by the same type of volcanic hotspot that had ultimately created the Hawai'ian archipelago. Inhabited by a mixture of native Polynesians and Caucasian migrants from America, Pararakelse had about a hundred thousand inhabitants these days. It was also an island steeped in ancient magical history and equally ancient normal history. Since coming here, Corrine had worked as an archaeologist researching the remnants of the so-called "Turtle Kingdom" of Pararontas, often accompanying normal researchers who wanted to do the same thing.

Like all on Pararakelse — and almost everywhere else on Earth — Corrine hadn't begun to suspect that there had been actual _**aliens**_ living in secret amongst them until very late Tuesday evening, when a platoon of very determined Noukiite Imperial Marines had teleported themselves into Pararakelse City to raid a house that turned out to have a middle-aged Niphentaxian woman residing there, having been observing events on Pararakelse for three decades! Also residing at that home and in apartments all over the island's capital city were a HUNDRED Avalonian bioroids who had been genetically moulded to look no different than any native Pararakelsian, either Polynesian or Caucasian, to any Terran. Like many Niphentaxians according to CNN, the woman who had been on the island — Corrine hadn't learned her name — always treated the Avalonians under her charge as mere "robots," no different than mindless golems. Corrine had been simply shocked at that. One of those girls, Joanna Teraina — who was now the Elder Mother of the Avalonians on Pararakelse — was one of her senior assistants when she went out on exploration digs in and around the Desert of Death. While Joanna hadn't registered highly on the Neuwied Test — she only scored 41 points; one wasn't seen as a "real" magical unless one scored 110 points or higher — Corrine hadn't sensed anything mechanical or artificial about the woman.

"Literally no different than you or I, John," the Liverpudlian finally answered as she sipped her lemonade; it was quite warm today and her host wasn't a tea drinker. "Out of curiosity, I had Brent do a full examination of my chief assistant Joanna." Healer Brent Atworth was another British expat and a fully-trained magical healer, having done time at St. Mungo's Hospital before getting out of the country in 1976 when the Death Eaters began attacking muggleborns at random. These days, he was the only fully-trained magical healer living on Pararakelse. "She's physically as human as you or I and could interbreed with any of us without problems, though things like her lifespan potential, healing abilities and psionic powers will pass to any child she has with an Earthling." She sipped her lemonade. "There are small glands in her body that link into her cardiovascular system which secrete a mesonium-based regenerative enzyme that helps heal physical injuries at a rate that I'd swear could equal the best potions regime Brent would use on any of us. Her psionic powers totally work through the nerves in her body. The telepathy is tactile in nature, no different than what Mister Spock does in _Star Trek_. Her empathic senses can track someone out to at least ten kilometres if she allowed her powers to reach out that far and she could tolerate the input were she in a crowded area. In effect, there's no way in Heaven that someone — even a master at Legilimency — could sneak up on her."

"Damn!" John Fitzpatrick breathed out. A native of Boston and graduate of the Seven Hills Wizarding Academy near Lynchburg in Virginia — it was the all-man's version of the Salem Witches Institute near the city of the same name in Massachusetts — he had served for twenty years as a magical special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigations before transferring to full-time government administrative work a decade ago. His position as the Liaison Officer for the Department of Magic to the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pararakelse made him the senior magical official on the island; unlike the normal world where Governor Traya Namo could call on a well-trained local police force answerable to her office to deal with civil disturbances, magical disturbances always fell under the jurisdiction of the federal Department of Magic via the local office of the magical branch of the FBI. That was alright; there were only a thousand or so magicals on the island and there was really nothing of major value on Pararakelse that might attract the attention of a dark lord like Voldemort. "So the governor was right in issuing her Executive Order declaring Ms. Teraina and her sisters full citizens of the Commonwealth?"

A nod. "Yes. When will the Magical Congress made a decision about them?"

He sighed. "Well, since they're aliens, they fall under the purview of the Men In Black in lieu of the International Conference thanks to the clauses of the Roswell Agreement. It's the President and the normal Congress that will have to decide about all the Avalonian-Americans in the fifty states and the District of Columbia…and Traya's opposite numbers in all the other unincorporated territories for all the Avalonians living there."

She nodded in understanding. The International Conference of Magical Communities was the worldwide meeting house for Terran magicals and had been since it had replaced the human-centric, blood-centric and Europe-centric International Confederation of Wizards in 1946 in the wake of the end of Tsukuyomi's War of Liberation and Grindelwald's War. The Supreme Mugwump of the ICMC was dual-hatted in the hierarchy of the United Nations as the Under-Secretary-General for Magical and Mystical Affairs, though s/he was always elected by the member groups of the ICMC and not the member states composing the General Assembly of the United Nations. After the Roswell Incident in 1947 — when a prototype Zephyrite scout ship crash-landed in the southeast part of New Mexico and was met by both magical and metahuman officers of the United States government in the first known true "close encounter of the third kind" between Terrans and aliens — a new agency in the United Nations was formed to deal with all issues concerning non-Terrans who might travel to Earth, the Special Committee on Alien Activities. Known more popularly as the "Men In Black" thanks to their usual work uniform of a black business suit with RayBan glasses over their eyes, the SCAA was given carte blanche rights to deal with anything of a confirmed non-Terran origin, which the Avalonians clearly were regardless of how humanoid they were deep down. Any decision made by the Chief Director of the SCAA, Professor Zachariah Rhetor of Israel (known to his co-workers as "Chief Zed"), concerning the bioroid race would be seen as legally binding to the ICMC as a whole according to the "Roswell Agreement" made between the two groups in the wake of that close encounter with the Zephyrites.

Of course, the eventual reality of what might happen between Avalonians and Terran magicals — especially in conservative societies like Britain — would be much different…but John suspected deep down that it would all work out in the end.

Put simply, the Avalonians — if what news reports from NASA now indicated about _how much_ the bioroids had brought with them from the Phentax system in the last couple of days were true — were a technological _**gold mine**_ waiting to be tapped into by normal governments worldwide. Even the leaders of the deeply conservative societies in the Middle East wouldn't be so stupid to let THIS chance pass them by.

After all, one NEVER kills the goose that lays golden eggs.

"Well, let's hope it all goes well," Corrine said. "After all, if we don't allow them to stay here while they try to make a society of their own, where will they go?"

John nodded. "Yeah. According to the MIBs, the solar systems all around Earth are claimed by one power or another, so any move by the Avalonians to any of those places would be seen as an invasion. Besides, given how fascinated the Niphentaxians were about Terran society if what our recent 'guest' told us was true, that would have clearly rubbed off on their…"

_KK-KRACK!_

"Merlin!" Corrine gasped as she whipped out her wand. "Who…?!"

_ZZ-ZARK!_

"**_AAAAUGH!_**"

Both ran out of the office into the waiting area beyond…and then stopped on seeing an unconscious man on the floor in the middle of the room. Covering him from her place close to the chair where she had been seated before said fellow had apparated into the room was Joanna Teraina, a lovely woman with the typical dusky skin shade of a Polynesian-descent Pararakelsian, now dressed in a T-shirt and Bermuda shorts…though it was clearly obvious to John that Joanna had no bra on under her shirt; the dark orbs of her nipples were quite visible under the white fabric of her top. The raven-haired, blue-eyed twenty-something had a very advanced-looking pistol resembling a Glock with a streamlined laser targetting device under the barrel — a Lawgiver, John recalled the name; the Noukiite platoon commander who had come here on Wednesday had the same type of weapon — aimed at the newcomer. As Corrine moved to stand protectively close to her chief assistant, the DOM liaison gazed on his receptionist. "What happened here, Glenda?" he calmly asked.

Glenda Rawaki took a deep breath. "He just apparated into the room, sir," she stated with a forced sense of calm; the suddenness of what just happened had clearly unnerved the young native witch. "Before he could march into your office — he just simply refused to say a word to me — Ms. Teraina drew her weapon and stunned him unconscious."

John sighed. His office recently had sound-blocking wards installed which kept out the standard level of conversation noise or other sounds from the reception room so that he could concentrate on work in case someone came in and Glenda needed to converse with the visitor before she advised her boss of said visitor's presence. Obviously, the wards weren't strong enough to block any loud bursts of noise such as a person apparating in…not to mention the discharge of a Lawgiver. "Ms. Teraina, why did you shoot him?"

"He was determined to march into your office and lay down whatever demands whoever sent him from Molmol wanted delivered without a damned care in the world about the fact that he should have answered Glenda's questions, much less respected the fact that you might have been entertaining someone or were busy doing something important," Joanna said as she turned the safety of her weapon on and slipped it into the holster now hooked on her belt. "Given his clothes, it was quite easy for me to tell where he came from. As I recall, there happens to be an _**international border**_ that separates the Republic of the Marshall Islands from the Commonwealth of Pararakelse. Wasn't this man supposed to check in with the local customs office at the airport here before coming over to see you?"

_Which the magicals of Molmol always love NOT to do when they visit me_, John mused as a delighted grin crossed his face. No doubt, the Avalonians had learned long ago about how easy it was for local magicals to apparate from Molmol to Pararakelse and back; the distance between the two islands was only six hundred miles and most magicals who lived in the Pacific Ocean basin learned how to apparate over such large distances in their graduate years of study at local schools…or in the case of people like John Fitzpatrick and Corrine McMaster who came into live in the area from other countries, after migrating here. Ignoring Glenda's delighted giggle and Corrine's laugh on seeing how the Molmolite — John recognized him as Ganda Gan, the "Royal Herald" serving Lamba Lu; he was always the person who relayed the so-called king's "royal decrees" to officials in nations and territories within close range of Molmol — had been brought down so easily by one of Pararakelse's newest citizens, the Magical Liaison to the Governor sighed as he rolled his eyes. "Well, let's see what _His Majesty_ wants now," he derisively muttered as he leaned down to pick up the roll of parchment on the floor close to Ganda's hand, and then he opened it to read it and a sheet of paper — the photocopy of something else — that was contained within.

A moment later, his eyes went wide. "Oh, my God…"

"What?" Corrine asked.

A whistle answered her. "Well, it's one busy day for the folks in Mahora," John stated. "Not only has the Earth Angel gained her own body, which fulfils the Promise of 1808…but the Destroyer of Kyōto is making waves now, too. Adopted as the sister of the guy who was made the landlord of the place Lamba Lu's brat cousin was staying at in Japan last year."

The other magicals gaped. "Merlin! Lady T'aeja?!" Corrine exclaimed.

"Yep. Calls herself 'Urashima Taeko' now; that's according to the letter that was sent with all of Kaolla's things back to Molmol last night," John stated before he smirked. "Oh, man! You can tell Lady Taeko's a tokkaebi. Dropped a brick right on Amalla's head, then dropped another brick right on the king's head right afterwards!"

More laughter…which was stopped when a howling Ganda surged up from the floor. "**_HOW DARE YOU LAUGH AT THE KING'S MISERY, YOU…?!_**"

He then eeped on feeling the cold kiss of a pistol muzzle on his neck. "Now, my friend, you're going to sit right down and act like a _civilized_ person…or is such a thing totally _**beyond**_ your kind?" Joanna said with faux sweetness as she leaned up to hiss right into his ear before her voice turned as frigid as the Antarctic in mid-winter. "Because if you can't respect the importance of Thoughtmaster Fitzpatrick's office as a representative of the President of the United States of America to the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pararakelse, I will have no choice but to say 'Target,' then your name, then 'Kill-disintegrate'…to render you _**ashes**_!"

John smirked as Ganda turned grey on hearing that threat; no doubt, the Molmolite had learned about the deadly power of a Lawgiver from news networks like CNN, which could be received in Molmol City. "What the hell did that brat you call a princess do to piss off a _tokkaebi_ of all things, Gan?" the American then asked.

Ganda paled. "'_**T-t-tokkaebi?!**_'" he sputtered in horror; as a graduate of Seven Hills — Molmol didn't have its own indigenous magical school — he knew what THEY were.

The American nodded. "Yeah. Korean trickster spirits that normally become sentient inside a household object, like a fireplace poker…as one named T'aeja did before some idiot named Urashima Tadaoki picked it up and took it with him to Japan during their little war with Korea at the end of the 1500s. He had the poker reforged as a katana…which pissed T'aeja enough that she wiped Kyōto off the damned map as a response!" John then clicked his tongue as he shook his head. "Now she's been adopted by Tadaoki's very own descendant Urashima Keitarō as his sister Taeko. Which means that if your princess goes back to Japan, she'll be in range of someone who finds _**slaughtering a hundred thousand people**_ an easy thing to do." As Ganda nearly soiled his trousers on realizing who was now allied with his princess' "big brother," the American official smirked. "You want to know how _**sick**_ people here in Pararakelse feel when they see the nightly news broadcasts you people put out, showing what that spoiled brat does to that poor man?!"

Ganda roared out, "_**HOW DARE YOU…?!**_"

_ZZ-ZARK!_

"_De'ne_!" Joanna spat as he collapsed to the floor after a close-range shot to his neck from her Lawgiver. "Do you want to have him sent back?" she offered.

"Please?!" John groaned out.

"Yes, sir!"

With that, Joanna pulled out a modified cell phone. A quick call to the bioroid factory later, Ganda vanished in a shower of energy that reminded John of the transporter effect from the second _Star Trek_ television series. He smirked as he imagined what the reaction in Molmol City would be like on noting that the "royal herald" had been returned from Pararakelse _**unconscious**_…and by means _other_ than apparition or a portkey, which would unnerve them greatly. "By the way, how long does the heavy stun effect of your pistol last?" he then asked.

"Depending on the target's physical health, up to two hours," the Avalonian-Pararakelsian archaeological assistant answered.

"Well, he'll be back soon enough…unless we can put up anti-apparition wards around the island to make him stay away," Corrine then mused.

"Never could get Washington to give me the money to set them up. 'Sides, if we did that, he'd just 'port over to Tarawa and bother the I-Kiribati," John muttered as he returned back to his office, waving the others to come join him. "I don't want to do that to Michael and his people. They don't deserve it."

As Glenda took her place at a chair to take any notes her boss might need written, Corrine returned to her guest chair while Joanna placed herself close to the door; there were no other chairs in the room. "So what else could happen today?" the English expat then asked. "The Lady Negako is now living in her own body after 202 years of being forced to live in the subconscious minds of dozens of people. Now, Lady T'aeja…" She then caught herself. "Wait a minute! Given what she did in 1603…"

John's eyes widened. "Why are the Japanese not hitting the panic button?" he wondered before reaching over to his satellite communications unit, a magically-hardened device that resembled a modern laptop computer. Seeing that, Corrine felt a surge of envy on how much American magicals were willing to incorporate technology into their day-to-day lives; such technomancy had only become legal in Britain at the turn of the millennium.

Tapping controls to open a link, John then called out, "Embassy Tōkyō!"

A second later, a woman's image appeared on his screen. "McLean here."

"Good day, ma'am. This is John Fitzpatrick, Department of Magic Liaison Officer in Pararakelse," he announced. "Sorry to bother you today, but we just got a visitor from Molmol City indicating that Miss Kaolla Su was just evicted from her current place of residence in Japan by a woman called Urashima Taeko, who claims to be the Destroyer of Kyōto. Ma'am, if I recall my magical world history classes right, the only living being who has any right to claim to be the Destroyer of Kyōto is…"

"The Lady T'aeja of Chosŏn," Brenda McLean, Assistant Chief of Mission (Magical) for the Embassy of the United States of America to the State of Japan in Tōkyō, finished. "I took the same classes at Salem, John. To answer your question, Urashima Taeko IS T'aeja. The Avalonians who live down in Hinata City got a sample of Urashima Keitarō's DNA and used that to turn one of the non-templated spare bodies they had available into a new body for the Lady T'aeja to use and let her be finally free of the containment and loyalty spells Master Hosan forced on her back in 1603. _Poof!_" She made an exploding motion with her hands. "Keitarō gets a _**very**_ magical sister." She then gave him a curious look. "So what did Lady Taeko do to the spoiled brat from Dodo Island, anyway?"

As Corrine laughed and Glenda giggled on hearing that nickname for Molmol, John sighed as he held up the copy of the original letter sent to the island last night. "Lady Taeko — now the landlady and manager of the Hinata House — has officially evicted Kaolla Su from the residence and stated quite emphatically that she will never be allowed back until she learns that arcane concept called 'discipline.'" As the senior American magical official in Japan laughed on hearing that, he then held up the response letter from Lamba Lu, which was to have been conveyed to the Imperial Palace in Tōkyō. "The 'king' demanded in return that the Lady Taeko be extradited to Molmol for insulting his precious adopted sister, denying her a place to stay and play in Japan, implying that the Lady Taeko's brother actually _**hates**_ the little princess…and that some other woman name Mizote Toshiko is to also be extradited to Molmol for actually causing the princess injury two weeks ago when she interfered in her attempt at playing with her precious big brother and actually went so far as to _**injure**_ her!"

The other woman moaned. As in the world of normal diplomacy, magical diplomats gladly wished every time they were forced to confront anyone from Molmol that the island would kindly "do an Atlantis" and permanently sink below the waves of the Pacific. While the International Conference of Magical Communities had different rules when it came to welcoming new members into its ranks than their counterparts in the United Nations — not to mention allowing multiple representatives from one nation to sit in the chambers in Geneva; for example, Japan had eight representatives, each being an officer of one of the regional Magical Associations as there had not been a single Minister of Magic in the country since the elimination of the position of Mahō-Shōgun in 1946 as a concilliatory move to appease the magicals of Europe in the wake of Yomigawa Tsukiko's actions — there were certain set rules about actually _joining_ the organization. The "Kingdom of Molmol" never bothered to acknowledge that; in 1956, an ambassador from Molmol City arrived in Geneva and declared that he was there to represent his people without even bothering to ASK if he could be allowed to do that, much less undergo the confirmation process! Unfortunately for him, the Supreme Mugwump of the ICMC at the time was the just-retired Lieutenant Commander Heather Thompkins of the Royal Canadian Navy's women's service division, a personal friend and former fighting companion of the Protector of All Life herself. The self-trained normal-born arch-mage — who could fight Yomigawa Tsukiko, the woman who had wrecked the old ICW almost by herself between 1939-45, to a standstill — from Québec and veteran of World War Two wasn't the least bit impressed by such bluster…and responded to that by sending the idiot for a swim in the Pacific in the middle of a swarm of _**sharks**_!

Understandably, Molmolites came to hate Canadians as much as they did Americans.

"Could you send that to me, please?" Brenda then asked. "I'll have to bring this up to Dean Konoe before it starts to escalate into something stupid."

"I'll have Gringotts courier it to you as soon as I can, Brenda," John offered.

"Thanks, John."

* * *

Hinata, the Wafū Chabō Hinata, an hour before lunch…

"So once the transfer of our relatives onto one of those space factories you had the Yehisrites and the Noukiites tow into the system is complete and they're finally awake, we'll be able to finally go up and look in on them," Horie Haruhiko recapped before sipping his tea.

Shiina Kaoru nodded. "We could actually take you up once the transfer is complete, Haruhiko-san. As much as we gladly make use of intimate therapy to help people heal from wounds…" — here, she gazed fondly on Urashima Haruka, making the tea shop matron blush right to her toes — "…we also recognize the need for relatives to be also involved in the recovery process."

At the head of the table in the genkan where the relatives of the three wounded Hinata-sō residents now under Noukiite/Avalonian care, the residents' current trauma doctor and the manager of the Wafū Chabō were seated at, Mayor Takada Tamasuke sighed. "When we tried to contact your ex-wife about Naru-chan, she began making all sorts of ridiculous demands concerning what we were supposed to do with her now that she was in the hospital, Haruhiko-san. Couldn't get a damned word in to inform her that Naru-chan was in space on the Noukiite hospital ship and that her wounds were so severe that the possibility of her being forced into becoming an Avalonian had to be explored. She wouldn't allow us to say a thing to her." He shook his head. "We had no choice but to hang up on her. We actually hoped that would have provoked her to call back so that we could force her to be reasonable." Another shake of the head from the mayor. "We haven't heard from her since."

The Toyota senior executive sighed. "Well, that doesn't surprise me." He wryly chuckled. "I was always the control fanatic…and Naru-chan's mother turns out to be a million times worse than I ever could be." He sipped his tea. "Well, at least we know our relatives will be safe. Shiina-sensei, what happens when someone becomes an Avalonian? The physical process is very easy to understand, but…"

"Well, the mental process is quite similar to how someone like myself came into being," Kaoru explained with a chuckle. "We only have the experience of the Flower Youth of Noukiios — not to mention Ataru-kun's new siblings — to go by, but since they all reported the same sort of thing, we could view what happens as standard for Naru, Mitsune and Motoko. Once the _tre'cha_ occurs and the soul awakens in its new body, it has to orientate itself to its new form. Whatever long-term illnesses or other infirmaries the person suffered — Mitsune's drinking problem, for example — will no longer affect them physically. As for the mental affections — as alcohol addiction does have a mental aspect — there may be cases of withdrawal, but with the support of friends and loved ones, such can be overcome. The Awakening comes shortly after the _tre'cha_ is done. This is when someone develops their sense of the Te'a."

"The power of Kami-sama," Aoyama Tsuruko stated.

"Not exactly that, Tsuruko-san," Kaoru countered. "The Te'a could be seen in that aspect as more a veil between the mortal and the Divine than an actual reflection of the Divine. Since my people haven't really had the chance to develop our own theories as to what the Te'a actually is — and such was never encouraged by our masters, even those of us who did see us as living beings — we can't really say what That Is we can see inside our minds. I suspect as time marches on and we interact more with the religiously inclined here on Earth, that might change. But no matter what, once the Awakening comes, Naru, Mitsune and your sister could be overwhelmed by the sheer _**vastness**_ of the Te'a. Naturally, there'll either be myself or nursing volunteers there to help them get through that, not to mention train them in the use of their powers. Once that hurdle's past, they can then carry on with their lives."

"Their incredibly _long_ lives, too," Konno Hikari amended with a smirk.

The healer nodded. "Hai, true. But isn't that what parents would always want of their children?"

The older people blinked before they nodded, smiling. They then perked on hearing a ringing noise from the direction of the plaza. "Who could that be?" Kaoru asked as she turned to look.

Everyone then froze on hearing a gargled intake of breath from Tsuruko. Eyes locked on the swordswoman from Kyōto, and then people paled on seeing the grey pallor on the face of Motoko's sister. "Hey! What's wrong?!" Haruka asked as she moved to comfort.

"Oh, my!" Hikari breathed out.

Haruka spun around to gaze on the writer. On noting where she was looking, the tea shop matron turned to look herself…and then gaped in disbelief.

Now standing at the foot of the stairs leading to the Hinata-sō from the Wafū Chabō were three people, all the same age and dressed alike in what Haruka knew were Noukiite traveller's robes over the two-piece martial arts gi-like clothing that was common clothes for civilians in the Imperial Dominion. Two of them were women, identical twins. The third clearly would have been both girls' fraternal twin brother. And while his hair was longer than what pictures of him that had circulated over the Internet and in newspapers across Japan and the world over the last eight months had shown of him and there was something of a moustache and beard covering the lower half of his face now, there was no mistaking who HE was.

The most famous teenager on Earth today.

Moroboshi Ataru had come to the Hinata-sō.

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) The **Keikyū Corporation** — the name is short for **Keihin Kyūkō**; the word _Keihin_ is taken from alternate readings of the second kanji in the words **Tōkyō** (**東****京**) and **Yokohama** (**横****浜**) — is the company that is responsible for all light rapid transit connecting the capital city of Japan with the major cities of Kanagawa Prefecture (Yokohama, Yokosuka and Kawasaki). Originally formed in 1898 when the nation's third electric railway line (and first for the Kantō Region) was established, the current corporation came into being in 1948. Using standard gauge trains (track width of 1.435 metres [4 feet 8 1/2 inches]), the company is in charge of five lines of service composing 87 kilometres of track serving 73 stations in real life.

2) **National Route 134** (in Japanese, _Kokudō 134-gō_) is the trunk highway that connects downtown Yokosuka with the town of Ōiso on the northern shore of the Sagami Sea, following the southern shoreline of the Miura Peninsula.

3) Translations: **Eki** — Name suffix for a railroad station; **Wa** — Ancient name for Japan; **Han'yō** — Literally "half-apparition," this is the term applied to a being that is half-human and half-yōkai; **Karasutengu** — Literally "crow dog of heaven," this is a type of yōkai that assumes the features of a crow or raven (it should be noted that the base term **tengu** originally meant a being that assumed canine features…but evolved over time to become a being that bore avian features); **-ssi** — Standard Korean honorific, their version of the Japanese "-san" suffix honorific; **Kisaeng** — Officially sanctioned female entertainers (and sometimes prostitutes) in Chosŏn-era Korea, who were — in many ways — the local version of Japanese geisha; **Roskosmos** — The common name used for the **Federal'noe Kosmičeskoe Agentstvo Rossii** ("Russian Federal Space Agency"), that country's version of NASA; **Nisei** — Second-generation people of Japanese descent living in another country like the United States; **De'ne** — Literally "no intelligence," this is the most common and popular Sagussan insult; **I-Kiribati** — Demonym for natives of the Republic of Kiribati; **Tre'cha** — Literally "the passing on," this is the Sagussan version of the concept of shifting one's soul into another person's mind similar to what Spock did with Leonard McCoy in _Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan_.

As an aside, the "**'**" mark in the Scientific Romanization system for Russian indicates the "soft sign" letter in Cyrillic. This letter is always written after a consonant and indicates that the preceding consonant is softened (in proper terms, **palatalized**). The letter also precedes "soft vowels." It also indicates a syllable break when it appears in the middle of a word.

4) The names of Naru's parents given here are my creation. It made sense to me that Naru's father would have a different name than her; it was obvious to me that Naru was legally adopted by her stepfather if she shared the same family name as her stepsister **Narusegawa Mei**. I take the family name for Naru's father from her anime voice actress, **Horie Yui** (born 1976), who has also done roles such as **Sakuya** (in my fanfics, **Sukeyama Sakuya**) from _Sister Princess_, **Multi** (AKA **HMX-12**) from _To Heart_ and **Kisaragi Honey** (AKA **Cutey Honey**) from the 2004 three-part OVA version of the Nagai Gō manga series, _Re: Cutey Honey_. As you will note, Naru's mother shares the same given name as her seiyū.

As an aside, the story of Mitsune's parents and an explanation concerning why she was at the Hinata-sō in the first place was never given. What is said here is also my creation.

5) The **Muramasa** style is one of the two most famous forms of sword-making known in Japan. Said to be founded during the Muromachi period (1337-1573) by one **Sengo Muramasa** (unknown dates of birth and death), the blades fashioned in this style were claimed to be cursed by their creator, a man who was a genius at making steel but also very mentally unbalanced. It was claimed that swords forged in the Muramasa style would eventually drive their owners to either go on murderous rampages or commit suicide. Ironically, Tokugawa Ieyasu himself dimly viewed any sword forged in the Muramasa style; he was said to have lost many friends to Muramasa-style blades and was himself badly injured by one at one time. I personally didn't know that factoid when I decided the Yōkatana Hinata would be forged in the Muramasa style; thus it is ironic that I created the story of the **Great Fire of 1603** — the year Tokugawa became Shōgun! — that nearly destroyed Kyōto to explain the bloody past of the Cursed Blade.

North American comic readers would be familiar with the Muramasa legend thanks to the character of **Katana** (**Yamashiro Tatsu**), who first appeared in an insert in issue #200 of _The Brave and the Bold_ (July 1983) and was created by the first writer-and-artist team to create the **Outsiders** superhero team, writer Mike W. Barr and artist Jim Aparo. As Katana, Tatsu makes use of a Muramasa-style katana known as the **Soultaker**, which literally absorbs the soul of those it is used to slay; Tatsu can also use a special ceremony to restore any soul within the Soultaker to quasi-life, enslaved to her.

6) While not officially acknowledged in _Mahō Sensei Negima_, the character of **Konoe Konoka** — not to mention her father **Konoe Eishun** and grandfather **Konoe Konoemon** — is most likely a distant relation to the Imperial Family of Japan. The Konoe Clan is, as noted above, one of the **Five Regent Houses**, five cadet families of the **Fujiwara Clan** who produced many regents in Japan before the practice of nominating a **shōgun** (literally "supreme general") to act as military head-of-government came into vogue. The Fujiwara Clan are themselves descent from the **Nakatomi Clan** — who was a prominent family during the Asuka period — and a servant of the **Tenji Emperor** (626-672 C.E., reigned 661-672), **Nakatomi no Kamatari** (614-669), who was given the right to take the honorific **Fujiwara** for services rendered to the Throne. The Fujiwara Clan would maintain heavy influence over the Imperial Throne during the Heian period (795-1185)…but lost influence when the Imperial Family engaged in **insei** ("cloistered rule"), where ruling emperors would actually abdicate from the Throne, though a retired monarch would still retain heavy influence on his/her successor. Around this time also came the rise of warrior clans, which required a military general to lead them in the name of the Son of Heaven.

7) **Nerio** is my name for the _Mundus Magicus_ introduced in the "Magical World" story arc of _Negima_. As I stated in _Phoenix From the Ashes_ and other stories, I do NOT accept Akamatsu-sensei's idea that Nerio is actually **Mars** under magical disguise. In the universe of this story, Nerio was formed when an asteroid slammed into Mars millions of years ago and literally sheared off half the planet's mass to allow another planet to be created. The life-bearing elements that were on Mars at the time were transplanted to Nerio, thus allowing sentient lifeforms — the "beast people," which I call **therianthropes** — and magic to develop there over time. Mars, unfortunately, was rendered lifeless.

8) The concept of **neutronium** as used here is the same as what appeared in the classic _Star Trek_ second season episode "The Doomsday Machine" when it concerns the outer hull of the **Planet Killer** that wrecked the starship U.S.S. _Constellation_. In effect, this is the densest element in the known Universe, created in the core of neutron stars where the orbiting electrons are crushed by gravity against the atomic core. Natural neutronium, under these circumstances, would have the equivalent mass of **_tonnes_** per cubic centimetre…which demonstrates the overall level of power necessary to forge such material into the **Cat's Claw** swords a Jewel Warrior can make use of.

9) The **Neuwied Test** is my version of the "magical power quotient" version of an I.Q. test that a lot of _Harry Potter_ fanfic writers love to use to measure total magical strength and potential. I first introduced this concept in my fanfic story _Harry Potter and the Icemaidens_; in that story, I gave **Albus Dumbledore** a score of 225 points…which gives you an idea of how incredibly powerful Urashima Taeko ultimately is as note the score Konoe Konoka recorded for her here.

As an aside, the highest score ever recorded using the Neuwied Test — as noted in Part One of _Wizards and Avalonians_ — was earned by **Heather Thompkins** (AKA **Spitfire**), who (as noted here) was a former Supreme Mugwump of the **International Conference of Magical Communities** (**ICMC**) as well as a personal friend and fighting companion of Dean Raeburn. She was first introduced in Part 51 of _Phoenix From the Ashes_. Heather's score — as tested in 1984 — was 504 points.

10) The story concerning the direct blood relationship between **Emperor Akihito** (born 1933) and the old kings of Paekche as relayed by Taeko here is true; such was revealed by His Majesty in an interview to the press on his sixty-eighth birthday in 2001. Unfortunately — given the prevalent attitudes many Japanese have when it comes to their neighbours across the East Sea (Sea of Japan) in Korea — such a statement by His Majesty only received coverage in one of the major national newspapers in Japan, the liberal _Asahi Shimbun_. Naturally, such a public statement by the Japanese emperor made headline news all across South Korea.

As an aside, **Muryŏng** of Paekche (family name unknown, birth name said to be either **Sama** or **Yŏyung**, lived 462-523 C.E., ruled from 501 to his death) was the twenty-fifth king of that land. His tenth generation descendant who became a concubine to the **Kōnin Emperor** (birth name **Shirakabe**, lived 709-82, ruled 770-81) and the mother of the **Kammu Emperor** was named **Takano no Niigasa** (circa 720-90).

11) The **442nd Infantry Regiment** (**442 IR**) of the United States Army was first formed in World War Two, composed of Japanese-Americans who volunteered to fight in the European Theatre of Operations despite the fact that their families had all been subjected to internment in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbour on 7 December 1941. The regiment earned the nickname the "Purple Heart Battalion" for the number of soldiers wounded or killed while it was in combat (a total of **_9,486_** Purple Hearts were awarded to members of the regiment…to say anything of **_twenty-one_** Medals of Honour and many other bravery awards). Officially formed in 1943, the regiment served as part of the 92nd Infantry Division in Italy, southern France and Germany. Inactivated in 1946, the regiment was reformed the next year as a unit of the United States Army Reserve; the 442nd is the only infantry unit on the order of battle for the national part-time army (which differs from the **Army National Guard**, which are controlled by the governments of the several states in peacetime; units or members of the National Guard may be called up for federal active duty in times of war or national emergency as so declared by Congress in Washington). The regiment — organized as a single battalion, the **100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry** (so numbered thanks to an administrative separate infantry battalion of Japanese-American volunteers from Hawai'i who were formed in 1942 and united with the 442nd Regiment in Europe in 1944) — is based in Hawai'i with detached companies on American Samoa, Saipan and Guam (in the universe of this story, another detached company is also located on Pararakelse). The battalion has been mobilized for duty in the Vietnam War and the War on Terror to serve in Iraq.

12) Speaking of which, the exact location of the island of **Pararakelse** — just like the exact location of Molmol and the Hinata-sō — was never exactly given in the _Love Hina_ manga, though there was a picture of someone showing that Pararakelse was located just to the west of Molmol. Because of this confusion, I based the location noted here on an image from the anime series that can be found on the _Love Hina_ Wikia page on Pararakelse, which shows someone pointing out a location north of the Equator and east of the International Date Line; Molmol itself was stated to be just close to the International Date Line. Thus, I placed the island amongst the various atolls and small islets of the **United States Minor Outlying Islands**.

As an aside, I decided to make this island akin to **Puerto Rico** in the Caribbean when it comes to its legal stance vis-à-vis Washington. Officially, Pararakelse is an **unincorporated territory** of the United States. This is a legal term of art which indicates territories of the Union which are **_not_** seen as being under the full jurisdiction of the Constitution of the United States and the accompanying laws passed under the Constitution by Congress in Washington D.C. Inhabitants of places such as Puerto Rico — and, in the case of this story, Pararakelse — are entitled to all the rights, advantages and immunities of citizens of the United States, no different than any citizen from any of the fifty states. However, such territories do NOT have the right to send voting delegates to Congress to fully represent the inhabitants of these territories before the national legislature as members of the House of Representatives and the Senate from any of the fifty states do. Like Puerto Rico, Pararakelse only has one delegate who can sit in the House of Representatives…but that person cannot VOTE on laws even if s/he can sit in government committees. Furthermore, even though Pararakelse is pretty much self-governing with its own governor (**Nyamo Namo**'s mother, by the way), legislature and judicial branch, Congress has the right to meddle much more in internal affairs than it can in the affairs of one of the states of the Union.

Unlike Puerto Rico — which has a population of over three million — any move for statehood by Pararakelse may not materialize anytime soon.

13) I first mentioned the **Seven Hills Wizarding Academy** in _The Icemaidens and the Philosopher's Stone_. I created this school as a male-only counterpart to the **Salem Witches Institute**, first mentioned in _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_.

14) The term **Special Committee on Alien Activities** (**SCAA**) was a term I created as the "official" name of the **Men In Black** as they were depicted in the movies starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. **Zachariah Rhetor** is the name I give the character of **Chief Zed** as played by Rip Torn.

As an aside, the whole story of **Tsukuyomi's War of Liberation** and its effects on European wand magicals is better explained in _Wizards and Avalonians_.

15) The term **Protector of All Life** is the term mystics and magicals normally use to speak of Major Dean Raeburn. She, of course, _hates_ that term!


	5. The Hinata-sō Gets A Makeover

In geostationary orbit over Earth 35,786 kilometres above the Equator, directly over the Pacific Ocean 260 kilometres northwest of the Indonesian city of Jayapura on the island of New Guinea (Tōkyō time: An hour after lunch)…

"…so your brother came through the last two months unharmed?"

"It depends on how one defines the term 'unharmed,'" the toneless and seemingly emotionless voice of the just-declared grandmaster of the Moroboshi-Hana Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū — the official announcement was made in an Imperial Rescript issued by the Heavenly Sovereign the previous afternoon in the wake of Moroboshi Negako presenting herself to him at the Kōkyo as her own being in lieu of possessing another person's body — answered as the holographic television screen projected an image of the street in front of one of the most famous private residences on Earth these days: The Moroboshi home in the Tōkyō suburb of Tomobiki. "Physically, Ataru is well, having actually improved his general state of health even before he endured the blood transfusion from Tariko that now makes him an Avalonian genetically, with all the powers a pure-born Avalonian is given at birth. Emotionally, he is quite exhausted from the last two months' events."

"How so?" Sakurayama Momoko, one of the staff of field reporters assigned to the Tōkyō station of NHK, then asked. "I would think fulfilling the Promise of Bunka Go-nen to see you become your own person at last after over two centuries of being forced to reside in the subconscious mind of fifty-seven people — Ataru-kun included — would be cause for joy. And that's not to mention his gaining two additional sisters in Tariko-chan and Hiromi-chan."

"Such did cause Ataru great joy," Negako — the subtitle under her name viewers across Japan were now seeing declared her **Imperial Special Agent #49, Destroyer of the Black Dragon Society, Earth's first true Artificial Intelligence who aided in the final end of the Greater East Asia War on 15 August 1945 (Shōwa 20)** — affirmed. "Especially when one compares gaining three sisters who fully understand and accept him for what he is, faults and all…to parents who have been abusive to him emotionally since the death of his twin brother Kaeru after the turn of the New Year in 1997 because he was never the favoured child. And that was compounded by the fact that his mother has engaged in a persistent yet unsuccessful campaign to embezzle whatever monetary funds were set aside by his late grandmother and his uncle…"

"_**I WISH I NEVER HAD HIM!**_" bellowed from the open door leading into the house.

The reporters around Negako ducked that shout. She didn't even flinch. "Case in point," the ninjutsu grandmaster calmly stated before turning to shout into the house, "That is now **_2,207 times_** since Ataru's sixth birthday that you have said words to that effect, Kinshō!" Ignoring the croaks of surprise from several of the fourth estate standing around her, she added, "Do you wish to ensure you mature into your senior years without any filial support?!"

Silence answered her. "Um…what does that mean?" Momoko asked.

Negako lightly smiled at her. "She wishes to _**grow old and die alone**_!" she stated, putting very sharp, loud focus in that phrase.

A howling scream of agony answered her from the Moroboshi residence. Momoko gazed in that direction for a moment, and then she sighed. "Please tell me you're moving now to keep Ataru-kun away from a monster like that!" she then hissed out.

"That is being done as we speak, Momoko," Ataru's adopted elder sister stated.

"Negako-sama, speaking of Ataru-kun and his sisters, where are they now that the Avalonians have arrived _en masse_ in the solar system?" a TBS reporter then asked.

"When I spoke to them earlier, they indicated they wished to visit a private sentō somewhere in Japan, Yui," Negako answered. "Naturally, given the curiosity many people in Japan and elsewhere will now express concerning what Ataru, Tariko and Hiromi were involved in that has initiated first contact between the United Nations of Earth and the Provisional Interstellar Republic of New Avalon, I will not say where they are at this time."

"Will they come see their friends — pardon me, Ataru-ssi's friends — here in Tomobiki anytime soon?" a reporter from SBS in Korea wondered; her words were echoed by Japanese subtitles at the bottom of the screen as this interview had been done an hour before (as was announced by the presenter of the news broadcast).

Negako gazed on her. "Hwayŏng, Ataru has NO friends in Tomobiki," she stated in flawless Korean, her words again being translated in subtitles on the screen.

All the reporters — and the few onlookers who were standing nearby watching this interview — were stunned silent; Negako had a universal translator pen pinned to her tunic to ensure all would interpret her words correctly, especially the small crowd of foreign reporters present. "None at all?!" Momoko asked.

"None," Negako sternly affirmed. "Which is understandable. Given the situation in Tomobiki during the time Hensō was resident here, no person in Tomobiki cared at all for Ataru. You have just witnessed the true feelings Kinshō — _his own mother_ — possesses concerning him. As you are aware, the standard viewpoint people living here possessed towards Ataru was most often expressed by the phrase 'cancer of Tomobiki.'" As the reporters nodded and the onlookers visibly cringed at the idea of their words and actions concerning their town's most infamous resident being _**publicly**_ fired back right into their faces — and in front of the world media to boot! — Negako added, "As I explained yesterday at Tomobiki High School, while his body was also host to my soul and my sisters' souls, Ataru could not sit back and seriously contemplate what was happening around him and how other people were reacting to such incidents; he was simply a person who lived for the moment. Once he was finally free to make his own decisions after our souls were removed from his mind, he spent much time contemplating what happened to him and around him while he resided in Tomobiki. In the end, it was an easy conclusion for him to make. Since no one in Tomobiki — not even Hensō — could truly _see_ him for what he was and what he has endured over the years, he decided it was simply expedient to completely 'clear the slate' of any feelings towards anyone in Tomobiki. To that end, he wishes to have nothing further to do with anyone here. He later confessed to me that he found making that decision quite _**liberating**_."

Again, the onlookers winced. Watching this from her raised diagnostic bed — which had to be the most high-tech thing she had ever encountered even after waking up on this rotating wheel space station an hour ago — Konno Mitsune could only shake her head in mute sympathy. As a would-be writer, the oldest of the Hinata-sō's present roster of full-time residents could tell right away what had been really going on in Tōkyō's most famous suburb, especially in the last two months since Redet Hensō had been driven back to her home planet in humiliation after Moroboshi Ataru discovered the truth about her and — with some heavy-duty help from the Noukiites, one of the local galactic superpowers — effectively removed her from his life once and for all. Because of the infatuation many in Tomobiki had towards the Avalonian-born Oni warlord's daughter, they had begrudgingly accepted Ataru's presence amongst them; they all knew that if he was made to leave town once and for all time, his "wife" would leave with him. That, they didn't want. However, that DIDN'T stop people from saying all sorts of horrible things about the guy to anyone who asked their opinions, even now. Since Ataru seemed not to care about such public abuse before the whole incident with his other "fiancée" began prior to the turn of the New Year, his peers and neighbours felt safe in carrying on unchecked.

But now that he showed he HAD taken offence to those insults…!

"So what does he intend to do, Lady Negako?" a BBC reporter then asked. "Given the actions of the group known as 'Lum's Stormtroopers,' much less Mendō Shūtarō…"

"They are already effectively suffering a form of retribution, Neil," Negako answered. "Without Hensō, Satoshi and his friends have no emotional focus for their lives since they invested so much of their hearts and souls to her 'service.' It will take them a considerable period of time to recover from such a traumatic loss, though such may be shortened since their parents have always despised their sons' slavish devotion to Hensō and now look upon her permanent removal from Tomobiki as a positive development; they will simply not allow their sons to continue to act as if Hensō was the be-all and end-all of life. Satoshi and his friends must now also realize that the possibility is there that a terrorist organization such as al-Qā'idah may decide to seek redress for their actions concerning the driver of the Galactic Space-Taxi Company that could have caused irreparable damage to Earth a week after the end of the Tag Race in June. Granted, the oil stocks from the Middle East were properly restored without any accompanying environmental damage by that fellow's co-workers once the Special Committee on Alien Activities involved themselves, but people such as Usāmah bin Lādin will still view the Stormtroopers' instigation of that event as an act of 'treason against humanity' and seek to kill them in response." As the onlookers moaned at the idea of confronting maniacs like those who had destroyed the World Trade Centre in New York City nine years ago, she added, "Of course, if His Majesty wishes such an attack against the citizens of this land stopped, I will stop them."

"Including finding bin Lādin?" a CNN reporter then challenged.

"If Barack wishes that, all he has to do is request same of His Majesty, Stanley," she stated. "However, given the desire of your countrymen to seek Usāmah out and punish him directly for what he provoked nine years ago, I doubt such a request will come."

Laughter echoed from the reporters. "What about Mendō?" the TBS reporter, Aragaki Yui, asked. "When his people found out we were trying to seek out an interview with you, he directly called the chairman of our company and demanded that we leave you alone. He didn't wish any 'lies' spread by you or your siblings concerning events here in Tomobiki when Hensō lived here."

"He did that to us as well," Momoko stated.

"Fortunately, Shūtarō's sister Ryōko learned of his desire to muzzle the local press and then contacted me about this situation," Negako said with a light smile. "I then contacted Shūtarō's grandfather Genjurō and warned him that if such actions were allowed to continue — as such is clearly in defiance of the basic laws of Japan protecting freedom of speech and freedom of the press — then the Inshin Group would have no choice but to demand immediate repayment of _**all**_ loans given to the Mendō Conglomerate and ignore all future requests for same. Doing such would see the Mendō Clan's paramilitary forces — including the Kuromegane Group and the Kuroko Group — permanently disbanded, which would deprive Shūtarō and Ryōko of their personal servants." As the reporters laughed on hearing that — to the last, they all loved the idea of watching the rich and famous forced to eat humble pie — she added, "Naturally, Genjurō was more than pleased to see Shūtarō properly disciplined for his transgressions against the members of the fourth estate. Furthermore, I warned Genjurō that any further actions against Ataru by Shūtarō, Ryōko or their servants for whatever reason would be seen as a direct attack on the Inshin Group by the Mendō Conglomerate. Such would be viewed quite poorly by us, thus resulting in the same retaliatory measures I stated beforehand."

"About time someone made that spoiled brat finally behave himself!" an ANN reporter sneered.

More laughter. "What of Ataru's relationship with Miyake Shinobu?" the BBC reporter, Neil Nunes, then asked. "Given that Hensō's presence here saw them break up…"

"Neil, did you not hear me earlier?" Negako cut in. "Ataru has _**no friends**_ in Tomobiki. That includes Shinobu." As the onlookers gasped on hearing such a final statement from the ninjutsu grandmaster, she added, "In Ataru's eyes these days, Shinobu is now no different than Hensō: A _monster_ that — should she ever attempt to impose herself on him again — should be _**killed**_ akin to what one must do to a dog suffering from rabies." Ignoring the horrified croaks of fear from the onlookers on hearing that Ataru now gladly wished a _girl_ — especially his oldest childhood friend — would _**die**_, she continued, "In his eyes, she dominated their so-called 'relationship,' behaving in the same fashion as Kinshō did towards him. He always despised that attitude. She abandoned him at the end of the Tag Race when Hensō declared Ataru her husband, not bothering to _attempt_ to understand what had happened. Considering that it was _**her**_ that Ataru spoke of when he declared 'For marriage' on tagging Hensō's horns, he viewed that as a personal betrayal of their friendship. In addition, Shinobu provoked an attack on Ataru by the so-called 'Rosebuds' group in late September when he announced to Satoshi one day after classes that he would step down as class _iinchō_ and she — who was in the same restaurant at the time — misinterpreted that statement as his expressing his desire to permanently remove Hensō from his life." Noting the reporters' confusion, she added, "Shinobu was dating Shūtarō at the time. She was afraid that if Ataru was successful in ending his 'relationship' with Hensō, she would then seek Shūtarō out romantically. The Rosebuds are Shūtarō's most passionate fans amongst the women currently attending high school in Tomobiki."

"To believe typical teenage angst provoked things like THAT here!" the CNN reporter, Stan Grant, stated with a shake of his head. The many times the scion of Japan's richest family had called out his clan's paramilitary forces — often in the aid of Hensō — had always been reported in the news. Often, those reports elicited comments on how much of a disruption Mendō's actions unleashed on innocent bystanders. "Does Miyake know of your brother's feelings?"

"She does. At Ataru's request, I destroyed all pictures he had of her in his possession and returned the remains to Shinobu yesterday afternoon." As the reporters nodded, Negako added, "Her reaction was quite violent, but I was not harmed. I believe the cast will come off her jaw in three days."

The reporters laughed on hearing how easy it was for Negako to disable Shinobu, a woman known around the world to have metahuman levels of strength which was usually triggered when she got very angry. Some American tabloids had come to call Ataru's ex-girlfriend "the She-Hulk of Tomobiki" because of such behaviour; that nickname had eventually spread worldwide, much to Shinobu's mortification when she learned of it shortly after her return from Uru two months ago, when reporters came to Tomobiki to try to get the real story behind Hensō's "marriage" to Ataru. The fourth estate had been out in force the previous morning when the "official" revelation of the Niphentaxians and the Avalonians was made on the lawn of Tomobiki High School by Moroboshi Negako (in her capacity as servant of the Heavenly Sovereign and unofficial representative of the Japanese government) and Seu-P'ye Yesu-Re Hechnich'-K'ekhech of Ait'uch Nehech (in her capacity as senior ground commander of Noukiite military forces presently on Earth). Also revealed at that time was the true story of the "Man With Four Souls" — as revealed by the Dragonspeaker's friends who brought the people from Tomobiki who had been kidnapped by the Urusians near the end of December to attend the forced wedding between Moroboshi Ataru and Redet Hensō — and how the discovery of such by the three millennia-old Noukiite heavenly dragon Nengmek'i eventually saw Ataru gain three sisters. They also got the chance to witness a _**very**_ thorough demonstration of all the combat manoeuvres of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū — with several captive Niphentaxians serving as targets at the cost of two lives when the soulsword and the Heart-Blast Touch attack were displayed; both had been chosen because of the gross level of abuse they unleashed on the Avalonians under their charge — which Negako confirmed that Ataru himself now knew thanks to the benefit of having his sister's spirit within his subconscious mind for a decade. And while the local residents who had witnessed that all cringed in horror on learning that the "cancer of Tomobiki" was now armed with fighting skills that simply couldn't be countered by anyone else in town, there was basic human nature to take into account.

As a bank robber demonstrated to a San Francisco police inspector named Harry Callahan when the question of how many shots the man had fired from his Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum revolver during the "excitement" of a botched robbery in 1971 came up, some people just couldn't accept something as fact unless they tested it themselves.

Miyake Shinobu had been made to accept things the HARD way.

"Speaking of the attempts at embezzlement Ataru's mother has carried out, what of the monies that were awarded with all the medals and decorations your brother received after winning the Tag Race?" Stan then asked.

"Ah!" Negako breathed out. "Those monies — and the medals and decorations which were awarded coinciding with those funds — will be returned to the governments that awarded them as soon as practicable and Ataru can spare the time to visit the various heads of state to return those medals in person, Stanley. That will be all done over the next month."

"Why?" Momoko demanded.

That was a good question, Mitsune realized. In the week after the Tag Race, Ataru had been awarded a chestful of medals and decorations from governments around the world for his victory against Hensō. Chief amongst them were the national orders he had been made a member or honorary member of: The First Class (Grand Cordon) of the Order of the Rising Sun in Japan, the Officership of the Order of the British Empire, the Officership of the Order of Canada, the Officership of the Order of Australia, the Officership of the French Légion d'Honneur, the Officer's Cross of the German Order of Merit, the Third Class (Red Grand Cordon) of the Order of the Sacred Tripod of the Republic of China, the Third Class (Ch'ŏnsu) Medal of the Order of National Security Merit from South Korea and the Order of New Zealand. Atop that were awards like the American Presidential Medal of Freedom, the First Class Hero's Medal of the People's Republic of China, not to mention Ataru being declared Hero of the Russian Federation, Hero of Ukraine and Hero of Belarus. While Mitsune wasn't sure what the situation would be concerning _returning_ those medals, the fact that Ataru was doing that in the wake of such an unbelievable triumph as helping _**liberate an entire race from slavery**_ would be a public statement that would echo throughout the ages…and completely debunk whatever people from Tomobiki claimed about their town's most infamous resident.

_That…is revenge!_ the wounded would-be writer mused with an admiring smile. Viewers from around the world would soon see a contrite Ataru returning the Order of the Rising Sun medallion to the Heavenly Sovereign — then such viewers would be forced to compare that scene to a scene showing a bunch of people from Tomobiki wailing all sorts of verbal abuse on him for things he might NOT have been responsible for in the long term — and would eventually conclude that all the people from Ataru's hometown were first-class _**morons**_!

"To borrow the standard military phrase, Momoko, the 'mission' was not complete when he gained his victory against Hensō," Negako answered. "On reflecting what happened in the wake of her deciding to live on Earth — especially the attempted theft of the world's supply of petroleum, which she refused to stop unless Ataru submitted to her — he eventually concluded that his actions that day effectively placed Earth and its inhabitants under a _greater_ threat than what the planet and humanity has faced since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962." As the reporters nodded in understanding, Negako added, "Furthermore, it is not the tradition of my family to accept such medals and decorations for simply performing a mission at the behest of the Throne…or, in the case of the Tag Race last summer, at the behest of all of humanity. Ataru has accepted that lesson. Thus, when I came here yesterday to destroy all the pictures Muchi and Kinshō possessed of Ataru, I removed all the medals and decorations awarded to him in the wake of the Tag Race from his bedroom and transferred them to our temporary quarters aboard the bioroid factory."

The reporters perked. "Why destroy the pictures his parents had of him?" Momoko asked.

"Momoko, Kinshō has verbally stated 'I wish I never had him' — or words to that effect — a total of _**two thousand, two hundred and seven**_ times since he took up the Promise of Bunka Go-nen on his sixth birthday. He will be _seventeen_ in April. That is an average of ONCE every TWO DAYS!" Negako firmly stated. "That is _**child abuse**_ by the basic definition of the concept I understand. Since Kinshō — and Muchi due to his not properly disciplining his wife to prevent such abuse — have clearly indicated that they do NOT love Ataru, he will not grant them any courtesy in return. As living amongst the Noukiites has taught him, filial piety has to be _reciprocated_ by the parents to ensure it is earned from the children. Muchi and Kinshō have not demonstrated same and will not receive same from Ataru, much less Tariko and Hiromi. As of this time, Ataru clearly wishes NOT to return to a place where he has endured such abuse. He does not wish to subject his sisters to such abuse as a proper elder brother would always do for his sisters. If Muchi and Kinshō cannot overcome their grief at Kaeru's death, they will grow old and die alone. Why should Ataru return to such an abusive environment now that he is fully cognizant of the level of abuse he has endured at his parents' hands?"

The reporters all nodded. "I will conclude this interview with this warning to those in Tomobiki and elsewhere who might decide to test Ataru in the future because they cannot tolerate him possessing the skills and knowledge I ultimately gifted him," Negako then stated. "In ancient Sagussan legend, Toghmoghbiki — note the similarity between that word and the pronunciation of this town's name — was destroyed by a man named Atar. He did that to free the woman he loved, Ram, from the evil which plagued Toghmoghbiki; that locale was seen as the central locus of all evil in Existence." Slightly smiling on sensing the onlookers wince on hearing Negako effectively state that their town was EVIL, she added, "Ataru — again, note the similarity of pronunciation between that name and 'Atar' — was able to kill 1,249 bandits in the Battle of Morningstar Plain a week after Kyech took us from Onishuto to give us the chance to live our own lives. Ataru also had a hand in the final deaths of 5,210,347 residents on Phentax Twelve two days ago, plus directly killed 2,268 Niphentaxian military and civilian personnel when he joined in the attack on the bioroid factory itself to allow Ganzo the chance to permanently destroy the genetic loyalty lock on the Avalonians and permit the recall of all bioroids and their children to commence in earnest.

"Ataru gained the emotional strength to unleash such carnage thanks to the abuse he endured at the hands of all those here in Tomobiki he once had to deal with. Granted, Hiromi's and my presences in his subconscious mind — which caused his soul to fracture to allow Tariko to become her own being — helped provoke many of those incidents, especially after Hensō entered all our lives in June. Regardless of how Ataru reacted to the situation at the time each incident happened, there were feelings of _hate_, _anger_ and _resentment_ that built up inside of his own soul at being blamed for things he neither was responsible for nor had a direct hand in provoking. That hatred, anger and resentment exploded from the depths of his soul at Morningstar Plain…and was still available for him to call upon when we assisted in liberating the bioroid factory.

"I can report to you all now that those emotions _**are still burning inside his soul**_."

As the reporters cringed and several onlookers collapsed in whimpering heaps of sobs on realizing that the nightmare they had seen yesterday morning was REAL and was not going away anytime soon, Negako turned to walk away. "Thus, if there are those who wish to provoke Ataru in the future, they will come to comprehend a very poignant Noukiite saying: 'Treat someone as a pariah, he _**becomes**_ a pariah.' Most likely, if they push such matters, their foolishness will cost them their _**lives**_. This interview is concluded; I have duties to perform."

With that, she headed off as the image on the holographic television screen changed to show the presenter's desk at NHK's Tōkyō studios as the "talking heads" began their in-depth analysis of what had just been played to viewers across Japan. Taking a deep breath — and wishing to hell that she could move her hands to scratch the itch on her nose; thanks to the wounds Mizote Toshiko's damned brother left her on Wednesday night, she had to wear a neural paralysis collar to mask out the pain from her wrecked nerves…which denied her the ability to move anything below her neck — Mitsune called out, "Computer, shut down television link to NHK. Play classical music selection from Frédéric Chopin in the station's entertainment files, volume level Four."

As the soothing sounds of the second Nocturne from Op. 9 — which would have shocked all of Mitsune's friends from the Hinata-sō as they would _never_ figure her for a classical music lover — echoed from the speakers located in this recovery room of the medical station she had been moved into earlier, Mitsune turned to gaze on Earth through the picture windows that lined one bulkhead. The medical station holding the victims of Tarash dai-Joranth's attack on the Hinata-sō was located in the central column of the rotating wheel space station — one of 506 such units that had been seized in the Liberation — that had been poised in roughly the same meridian of longitude Tōkyō itself was located on. Three hundred and sixty of those stations had been placed in geostationary orbit around Earth, each vertically parallel to every meridian of longitude. Fortunately, given that standard geostationary orbit around Earth had a circumference of 244,887 kilometres, each of the two kilometre-wide stations were spaced at a distance of 678 kilometres from their neighbours. Each station was equipped with manoeuvring thrusters that could ensure they stayed in place so as to not threaten other units, not to mention controlled by a crack crew of engineers and sensor operators who were keeping a close eye on cislunar space to ensure nothing could threaten them.

The remaining 146 stations captured in the Liberation — which had stripped the Niphentaxians of ALL their space-based industrial capacity, effectively denying them the ability to build a new space fleet to defend themselves for the foreseeable future — were now clustered at all the Earth-Moon Lagrangian points, not to mentioned the Sun-Earth Lagrangian points closest to the planet. Everything was now shielded by not just a small fleet's worth of Noukiite and Yehisrite warships patrolling the inner part of the solar system, but 156 captured former Niphentaxian Navy vessels manned by Avalonian volunteers who were determined to make this small point in space a free-fire zone for anyone who dared stick their noses where they didn't belong. Not only did the Earth and the Avalonian bioroid factory need protection, but so did 714 civilian ships — again, all former Niphentaxian vessels — who had been seized by the bioroid race and were serving as spare refugee ships taking the incredible pressure the existence of nearly THREE BILLION Avalonians — amongst them MILLIONS of Avalonian-Niphentaxian hybrid children — was now demanding of their birthplace.

Despite the obviously crowded conditions inside the factory, the refugee ships, the space factories and the captured warships, the overall mood amongst the beautiful alien-born women — Mitsune had YET to see one alien-looking bioroid — was actually quite upbeat. That was understandable, of course; the heady feelings of true _freedom_ unleashed not more than a day ago thanks to the Noukiites, the Yehisrites and the celestial dragons of Noukiios and Yehisril had just overwhelmed the Avalonians and they were still in a celebratory mood at getting what they had only been able to dream about since they were born. Those girls who clearly had been abused by their masters back in the Phentax system were also smiling and trying to stay chipper…even if the haunted looks in their eyes all spoke volumes to Mitsune. While part of her was worried that the arrival of so many cases of post-traumatic stress disorder on Earth would overwhelm the capabilities of the planet's combined health service networks to care for them — to say anything of how the sheer number of Avalonians alone would cause governments on Earth to go into a mass panic attack over the logistical issues ALONE when it came to basic necessities such as food and water — she had also sensed the incredible strength the Avalonians had in their hearts and souls. Strength that had been caged for years and decades by the Niphentaxians and their paranoid fears about not allowing any change in their overall society to come from any direction…and which had now been fully unleashed, ready to smash down anyone who dared try to enslave them anew.

_Thank the gods they don't want to force themselves on Earth_, the would-be writer mused as she recalled what she had seen earlier on NHK, after she got the world-shaking explanation as to what the hell she was doing in SPACE of all places from Shiraishi Karin, the woman currently in charge of caring for Mitsune as well as her co-tenants from the Hinata-sō. Much to the would-be writer's shock, Karin had been physically based on a VIDEO GAME character of all things; for some really weird reason, many Niphentaxians had this mad passion for Japanese anime, manga and video games and clamoured for replicas of all the female characters — and even female versions of male characters as well, especially if they were effeminate ones like Ikari Shinji from _Shin Seiki Evangelion_! — that appeared in those series. Karin — who spoke with a Hokkaidō accent as her fictional template was a native of the northern of Japan's home islands as shown in the video game _Kita-e: Diamond Dust_, released in 2003 by Hudson Soft for the PlayStation 2 — was a friendly and understanding sort of person; unlike some of the girls now on Space Factory #319 (as this place had been designated by the Niphentaxians), she had a very kind master who lived in an isolated village on one of the outlying worlds of the Phentax system. And while she was not a properly trained nurse or healer, she had volunteered at the village hospital, working often with the healer who would now look after Mitsune, Naru and Motoko.

_Wonder who she's modelled after_, the would-be writer mused…

"Lunchtime!"

She perked, and then groaned out in relief as a tray of food was placed before her before the back of her bed was elevated further to allow her to be able to eat without making a mess of herself. "Will I have some hands here?" she wondered.

"I got volunteered," the person who delivered the tray stated.

Gazing at her, Mitsune was again struck by how incredibly _**beautiful**_ Avalonians could be even if they weren't designed from the start to rival the looks of the most well known fashion model or actress. Her current helper was a tomboy dressed now in jeans and a turtleneck sweater; one look at her breasts showed that she had no bra on underneath the sweater. Possessing shaggy, short-cut black hair and grey-blue eyes, she had the demeanour of someone who liked to explore when she got the chance.

"Sakuramachi Yūko," the newcomer then said as she leaned over to gently kiss Mitsune on the head, smiling as the would-be writer blushed at such an intimate act. "I come from the same village Karin lived in on Phentax Twenty-one; our masters and mistresses were all _Kita-e_ fans there, so they went out of their way to get replicas of the characters from either _White Illumination_ — I'm based on one of those characters — or _Diamond Dust_."

"That's sad," Mitsune stated as Yūko unwrapped the covered plates of food — all Terran Japanese fare, the would-be writer was relieved to note — and then moved to scoop up some rice from a bowl to allow her to start eating. "How long will I be here?"

"That's up to Kaoru," Yūko stated as she held out the rice.

The other girl gently took it down. "How bad is it? Karin-chan didn't say much."

"Well, cellular disruptor pistols are not nice weapons," Yūko stated. "Your nervous system — from what I saw of the scans — looks like ground beef in some places. If that collar wasn't on your neck, you'd be so overwhelmed by the pain that you'd slip into a coma just to protect your sanity. Fortunately, neuron-regeneration therapy for disruptor attacks was perfected ages ago for all the known hominid races, even mine. A few days of that and you'll have your body back under your control."

A sigh of relief in acknowledgement answered her. "Thank the gods!" Mitsune groaned out before she smiled as Yūko gave her a sliced bit of fried tai. "How are Naru, Motoko and Su-chan?"

"Naru-san and Motoko-san are still unconscious; it seems that Toshiko's brother really went to town on both of them," Yūko stated. "As for the other girl that was shot up by him, she was taken away by people acting on behalf of her relatives before the Noukiites could get her up to the hospital ship and put her into intensive care."

"She's in India now?!"

Yūko gave her a surprised look. "You don't know?"

"Know what?!"

The other woman sighed. "Well, seems to me that Kaolla lied to you all about where she's actually from."

Mitsune blinked…

* * *

The Hinata-sō, that moment…

"Wow…!"

"To believe that Ataru-sempai went through all THAT!"

The other girls who were now seated in the banquet hall after having watched NHK news nodded on hearing what Maehara Shinobu just said. Having come to visit their classmate and her girlfriend were five girls from Hinata Middle School. While Shinobu had pretty much shied away from making friends in the wake of her moving out of her parents' old home near the Hinata Restaurant downtown and relocating to the Hinata-sō, these girls — inspired by Kashiwamura Moe's example — stuck with her, ignoring demands from their peers to turn their backs on the "crybaby" since she clearly didn't want to be part of the crowd. Shinobu was grateful for that; much that she knew she was now in an honest-to-goodness _intimate relationship_ of all things with Moe, she liked having more friends even if she still felt uncomfortable fully opening herself up to them.

Besides, all seven girls — including Moe — also attended after-school classes at the Ōgusu Seminar, a local juku that catered to the middle and high school crowd in Hinata. Five of the private institution's teachers were Avalonians in the Hinata group: English teacher Scarlett Ryan, social studies teacher Okada Shinobu, computer studies teacher Kudō Kana, mathematics teacher Yanagita Sumie and science teacher Tanimoto Yūka. Despite their résumés being falsified thanks to their masters, the five Avalonian teachers' popularity and success rate when it came to their charges — all those who had studied under Shinobu (whom Maehara Shinobu's group of friends simply called "Sensei" without name to avoid confusion) as well as Scarlett, Kana, Sumie and Yūka over the last four years had scored TOP marks in entrance examinations to move on to high school and university as well as the Centre Test and IELTS tests for foreign studies! — had convinced the seminar's owner to ignore any potential complaints about lack of proper qualifications. Despite proposals now being circulated around the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology — which were announced in the morning news — about allowing Avalonians in Japan who had been forced to pretend they had university degrees the chance to be given honorary degrees once they proved their knowledge to competent testers, there was a very simple business reason to keep those girls on staff with the Ōgusu Seminar: If they were made to leave, the juku would be out of business in a fortnight!

"Well, Ataru-sempai did the right thing!" Nakamoto Shizuka — she was the "brains" of their group given her top marks in all classes; she also looked it thanks to the reading glasses she wore over her brown eyes — affirmed with a nod. "After all, you heard what the police said about what happened to Sensei, Kana-sensei, Sumie-sensei, Yūka-sensei and Miss Scarlett. They were…" She gulped. "They were _**raped**_…!"

The others winced. While they were all twelve and thirteen years of age, they were old enough to understand what THAT word meant even if the actual mechanics of sex were still something of a mystery to them save Moe…and to a lesser extent, Shinobu. "They couldn't go really far with that," Moe then advised as she moved to prevent her friends from breaking down and weeping at the pain their beloved after-school teachers had endured at their masters' hands. "After all, if they got the girls pregnant, there was the risk of the Church authorities having them dragged back to Phentax Twelve to allow the children to be born, then the babies would be put in cryo-freeze inside the bioroid factory and experimented on." As the others turned a sickly grey on hearing THAT, the sandy-haired Terran-form Avalonian added, "Atop that, if they went too far and hurt Scarlett and the others, the bruises would have been seen by others and the police would've been called into it. That ran the risk of exposing what was going on to the authorities, which couldn't be allowed."

The others nodded. "I just don't get this whole 'you're a machine' thing!" Arai Kiyomi, a tomboyish girl with spiky black hair and brown eyes, muttered before sipping a bottle of fruit juice. She was seen as the unofficial leader of their "gang" (as she termed it). Much to the shock of EVERYONE at Hinata Middle School, she actually **_punched out_** Kaolla Su a year ago when the Molmolite princess tried to force Shinobu and her friends to "play" with her because she hadn't got the chance to "play" with Keitarō earlier and was feeling particularly frisky that day. "You bleed like a normal girl. You can have a baby if you wanted to. You actually grow old like normal people do even if you'll live for eight hundred years…! What's wrong with those creeps, anyway?! Just because you got grown in a lab doesn't mean you're not human!"

Moe blushed as the others giggled. "Well, by the time Elder Ganzo discovered the factory, the 'church system' had been in control of things on Phentax Two for centuries," she explained. "People had no choice but to be part of a church and adhere to what the leaders of the church said was right and proper. No one was allowed to question a darned thing about how hollow people's lives really were. Because the leaders of the churches wanted to stay in control, no one could be allowed to research anything towards trying to help people learn how to create their own things. When we came into the picture, we were seen as the biggest threat to the whole 'church system' that ever came along. Especially when Elder Ganzo and those who supported him began pressing for us to be recognized as sentient beings and allowed to live our own lives."

"Because you could create and they couldn't," Shimura Mami said as she nibbled on a stick of Pocky. "Jeez! If they were so desperate to stay in power, why didn't they just let you have the planet the factory was on as your own, then left you alone?!"

"By that time, the first of the current generation of Avalonians had earned interest from all over the Union concerning getting pretty sex slaves," Moe said with a scowl. "The oldest of us all — who were created at the equal age of eighteen Terran years — is physically the equal of a twenty-six year-old woman these days. We were timeless beauties to them." A shake of the head before she snatched one of the Pocky sticks from the box in Mami's hand, which made the childish-looking girl with the wavy brown hair and caramel eyes snarl; NO ONE touched her Pocky if they valued keeping their fingers!

"Will we be like that if we become like you, Moe-chan?" Takagi Reiko then asked. The athlete of the group, she had long, wavy black hair and dark brown eyes.

"Well, I think Eriko would want you to get your parents' permission to do that first," Moe advised. The government officials looking over the former residences of Karan sudai-Karona and his subordinates would be finished by the end of today, turning site control over the house and apartments back to Yamamoto Eriko and her friends. Once they could get back into their old residences, they could get their personal belongings out and move them to the Hinata-sō. Along with that would come nineteen non-templated Avalonian bodies in storage in the basement at Karan's former house, which were the last of the group of unborn bioroids yet to see life as either their own people or as replacement bodies…as what had been done for Urashima Taeko, Maria Eiffel and Dō Karumi.

The others nodded. Shinobu didn't have anything to worry about; when she had moved to the Hinata-sō, she had fallen under the legal guardianship of Urashima Hina as per a private agreement between the matriarch of the hot springs hotel and Shinobu's father Kōji. When he became the manager, Keitarō was made Shinobu's _de facto_ legal guardian in the power of attorney papers his grandmother prepared. As to what might happen now that Keitarō was seeking legal ownership of the Hinata-sō, that had yet to be decided. Shinobu didn't really want to have anything to do with her parents these days; the way they had bickered with each other in front of her in the last few months she had lived in the family home just soured whatever positive feelings she once had for them…and on the flimsy excuse that Kōji cheated on his wife, which he never did! Deep down, Shinobu wouldn't mind Keitarō becoming her _de jure_ legal guardian…though she now suspected he might persuade Taeko to assume such duties until Shinobu was of legal age. She wouldn't mind that; despite the awful things that happened to her over the four centuries she had been trapped in the Yōkatana Hinata, Taeko was a very nice and kind person all around and would make an excellent landlady for the Hinata-sō.

_At least if they come back once all the changes have occurred, Naru-sempai and Motoko-sempai won't have reason to complain anymore_, she mused to herself…

…and then she perked on hearing footsteps echo from the direction of the open air bath, where Keitarō, Taeko and Karumi had been entertaining the Moroboshi siblings. Everyone turned to see one of Ataru's sisters step into the banquet hall, draped in a beautiful housecoat that went to mid-thigh. A glance to her left ear revealed this was Moroboshi Hiromi; as noted by the silver magatama earring she had, she was the tōshi of Ataru's siblings. "Forgive me for disturbing your time with your beloved and your friends, Shinobu-san, but where on Earth is the kitchen in this mausoleum of yours?"

Shinobu blushed as the other girls giggled. While Tariko — who had actually been a part of Ataru's own soul until just after his sixth birthday, when the pressure of being the host body of the _Saikō Jinseijutsu_ and being influenced by the soul contained in Hiromi's magatama permanently fractured his own soul into two unique, separate beings — still talked pretty much as a boy even if she was learning how to be a girl, Hiromi's speech was classical and might have been seen as high form during the Tokugawa era. Which was understandable; Ataru had explained to all the people at the Hinata-sō that, unlike Karumi — who had effectively been reincarnated sixteen times from the time of her first life as Dèng Ài in the Third Century to today — and other tōshi alive today, this was his adopted sister's FIRST go-around at life since her original self died just before the Latter Hàn Dynasty effectively began to collapse in earnest in 189 C.E. While Hiromi had not answered any questions as to who she had been back then — she called herself "Ryūkō Kyōrei," which was no battle name Karumi knew of — save for identifying herself as a "minor marquess…no one of importance," she seemed quite nice and honest to the Kyoshō alumnus. Considering that she was now seen as one of the "Liberators" of the Avalonians as well as being an Avalonian herself, Moe and her sisters happily accepted her with open arms; in private, Shinobu's girlfriend stated that — outside of sensing an overwhelming aura of _**guilt**_ that loomed over Hiromi's innermost soul — she seemed a very nice person and was a hundred-and-ten percent devoted to her new brother and sisters.

"Here, let me take you there, Sempai," Shinobu offered as she got up, waving Hiromi with her. "Are your brother and sister thirsty? I can make some tea or juice."

"My thanks. I am a little parched," Hiromi confessed as they headed down the main hallway into the southern wing of the Hinata-sō, directly leading right to where Room 201 (Shinobu's room) and Room 202 (officially empty, but now being used temporarily by Maria Eiffel) were located. "Onii-san and Onē-san and alright, though."

"It's no problem," Shinobu said with a giggle; Hiromi had such a cute lilt to her voice. "Especially for Sempai's friends." A sigh. "He has so few of them…"

"Never forget that you're one of them, Shinobu-san."

Her cheeks reddened at that complement. "Sometimes I don't feel that way," Shinobu confessed as they made the reverse-S turn at the grand staircase that led to the third floor of the south wing. They then descended to the first floor, walking down the main corridor towards the south doors in the lobby, which also led to a side hallway heading right for the kitchen/dining building. "I should have done something to make Naru-sempai and the others see how much they hurt Sempai…"

Hiromi sighed. "Shinobu-san, stop beating yourself to death over what's happened during the previous year," she advised as they stepped onto the covered walkway. "Keitarō-san understands what your position vis-à-vis your co-tenants here was. He doesn't care about that now that plans are moving forward to have the Hinata-sō placed under his ownership so Taeko-san can become the manager and he can better concentrate on passing the Centre Test and trying to get into Tōkyō University."

The younger girl nodded. "Hai. I'm sure Naru-sempai and the others will understand and accept it once they're finally healed by Kaoru-sensei…" She then sighed. "After, of course, Motoko-sempai gets over the fact that the 'demon' that nearly killed off all her ancestors is finally free of what Master Hosan did to her and now lives as Sempai's sister."

A chuckle answered her. Hiromi and her siblings had briefly met Shiina Kaoru, Urashima Haruka and the relatives of Tarash dai-Joranth's victims before Keitarō, Taeko and Karumi came down from the Hinata-sō to greet them. She had sensed the mortal terror Aoyama Motoko's sister Tsuruko felt on knowing that the Destroyer of Kyōto was free of Hosan Hirosuke's entrapment spells, having been adopted as the sister of the manager of the very dorm Motoko herself now resided in. While part of Hiromi felt a private glee — there had been times in the past when members of the Aoyama Clan of Heian and the Moroboshi Clan of Mutsu had clashed, especially when it came to dealing with the first generation of Japanese-born tōshi in the early decades of the Tokugawa era; the Shinmei-ryū warriors' constant failures when it came to dealing with such beings required the intervention of the pre-awakened _Saikō Jinseijutsu_ to suppress them, such actions eventually earning the future Moroboshi Negako her nickname "the Black Death of the Marital Arts" — on seeing Tsuruko act like a scared colt in Taeko's presence, she understood that Keitarō felt that Motoko was also a victim of his grandmother's willingness to play chess with their lives, thus would (within reason) allow her to remain at the former hot springs hotel as a tenant. Regardless of what had happened in 1603, Taeko HAD deserved the chance to take control of her own life…as did Motoko and the other original residents deserved such now. Letting Taeko take over as the new manager/landlady of the Hinata-sō would allow Keitarō to pull back from directly interacting with Motoko and the others, giving them a renewed sense of safety and control over their futures, thus allow him to seek out his own destiny with his new fiancée at his side.

Fiancée…

"Do you hate her?" Hiromi wondered as she and Shinobu stepped into the kitchen.

The younger girl perked, and then she sighed. "Karumi-sempai, you mean?" she wondered. At the older woman's nod, she breathed out. "I can't hate her, Hiromi-sempai. Not after what Obā-chan did to her. I…" A shake of the head as she opened the refrigerator to pull out some fruit juice. "Hai, I would have liked it if Sempai had fallen in love with me — he's always said nice and encouraging things to me — but it didn't happen." She then smiled. "Besides, there is Moe now…"

"I sensed that. Moe-san has exceptional good taste."

Mega-blush time! "Sempai!" Shinobu squawked.

Hiromi laughed as Shinobu moved to prepare her drink. "Well, it's true!" she stated before nodding her thanks as the younger girl handed her the glass of juice. "And I will state — from what I've sensed of his feelings towards you — that there has been a part of Keitarō-san who's wished you were much older. If you were…"

Shinobu blinked. "Sempai would love me?"

"He loves you already," Ataru's sister stated. "As a more acceptable adopted sister than the possessive little twit he left behind in Hayama last year; I don't know if he's told you about Kanako-san or not, so I won't say anything more." She paused before adding, "He also sees you as a good friend, someone he is glad to help encourage and protect to the best of his ability by being your dorm manager and landlord. And perhaps, years in the future, he could come to accept you as a potential lover."

The other woman's cheeks reddened considerably on hearing that. She then sighed. "Moe's told me about how it was like on Sagussa all those years ago," she stated. "How bond-mates would share a nice man to be the father of any future children. She doesn't mind the idea of sharing Sempai with people like Eriko-sensei, Toshiko-sempai and the others." Another sigh escaped her. "But what about Karumi-sempai? She's going to be his wife."

"Aye, she will be," Hiromi affirmed. "But remember that Karumi-san's soul was first born in a time when it was acceptable to have mistresses and concubines to ensure the family line continued. That was practised here in Japan as it was in China and Korea until very recently. Atop that, Sagussan genetics and social mores will come into play. Marriage as we understand it never existed there. Yes, there were cross-gender bond-matings such as what Keitarō-san and Karumi-san enjoy now…but such matings did allow other couples seeking to have children to interact with such couples quite intimately." She then smiled as she squeezed Shinobu's shoulder in reassurance. "Don't fret about such things now, Shinobu-san. It will be some years before you have to concern yourself with motherhood. You're only now discovering the joys of intimacy with Moe-san. Allow that to give you pleasure and delight for the time being. Let the future come as it will."

Shinobu smiled. "Was he like that?"

"Eh?"

"Your brother. When you were all still in his mind?"

Hiromi sighed. "Onii-san was afraid to allow people to see that side of him. When he was much younger — sometime after the Promise was made and he found my magatama — he was often treated badly because he always was fascinated by older women, thus marking him as 'weird' in the eyes of his 'normal' peers. None of us — not even Onē-sama — know why Onii-san was so attracted to older women at such a young age, but it happened. Since Onii-san's mother truthfully cared not for whatever happened to him since he was not his brother, he had no one to turn to and seek comfort for the injured feelings he had in the wake of the insults heaped on him by his peers. That helped make him become the person the people of Tomobiki reviled as the 'cancer' of their good town." She snorted. "Stupid fools! They fawned over him when he achieved his victory over Hensō-san to keep Earth free of Urusian occupation…then expected him to just stand there like an idiot and take their insults and hatred when strange things began to happen and Fate forced him into the middle of it!"

"So he really does hate them all? Like Negako-sensei said on the news?"

The older woman sighed. "It is much more complicated than that, Shinobu-san," she advised. "In many ways, Onii-san's feelings for those people in Tomobiki are as complex — especially now that he can look at them with clear eyes and a clear mind — as Keitarō-san's feelings are towards his family, not to mention the other tenants living here at the Hinata-sō and anyone else he happens to know of."

"But why do things like rip up all his pictures of his old girlfriend…?"

"We're guaranteeing they stay _**alive**_, Shinobu-san."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"Eh?!" Shinobu croaked out.

Hiromi gave her a sad smile, her brown eyes echoing a terrible wisdom that made the younger girl cringe. "Did you hear Onē-sama say how many people Onii-san has killed?"

Shinobu blinked. "It was quite a lot…"

"A total of _**three thousand, five hundred and seventeen**_ people," Hiromi stated. "I won't include the poor unfortunates of Phentax Twelve since they were effectively dead anyway thanks to the curse that destroyed Lum-san's life in the first place." She sighed before sipping her juice. "All killed by his own hands, the skills he gained from Onē-sama…and a power that first awoke on Morningstar Plain whose full extent just staggers me, Shinobu-san. Not to mention hurts me if I'm in close range of him and Onii-san moves to make use of it." As Shinobu shuddered on hearing the pain in the older woman's voice, Hiromi smiled. "Despite his anger at all of those people — Aye, even his witless parents! — in Tomobiki, Onii-san doesn't hate them to the extent that he would wish them all _**dead**_. Unfortunately, those people don't realize deep down what they'll end up facing if they push him too far. And some of the fools there WILL want to push him that far, Shinobu-san. Driven by the pain of the broken hearts and torn souls left behind when the truth behind Hensō-san was revealed, they'll revert to 'default programming' so to speak, then turn around and assign blame to Onii-san. Allowing Onii-san to escape his 'divine punishment' for his actions in defiance of Hensō-san's wishes was never allowed, so they will do all to seek him out and punish him even now. That…"

"He won't put up with that sort of thing anymore," Shinobu finished. "Just like Sempai won't put up with that type of behaviour from Su-san anymore, much less Naru-sempai, Motoko-sempai and Kitsune-sempai."

"Aye. Fortunately for all of you here at the Hinata-sō, Keitarō-san has Taeko-san and Karumi-san to act as buffers against those who would not approve of his 'shirking' his duties to this fine old hotel, much less his finally abandoning his quest for his 'promise girl' and bonding with Karumi-san, which effectively eliminates any reason for Naru-san to exert any influence on his life." Hiromi then smirked. "Strange as this will sound, Naru-san turns out to be Keitarō-san's 'promise girl' from his childhood."

Shinobu hummed. "I heard Naru-sempai tell Kitsune-sempai about that. What was that about?"

A sigh answered her. "When he was a child and staying here, Keitarō-san made the acquaintance of Otohime Mutsumi-san; I understand you all met her when you went down to Okinawa in January. Both became close friends. Along the way, they made the acquaintance of Naru-san, who was taking in the waters of the hot springs here to help her recover from a childhood bout of leukaemia." As Shinobu nodded, Hiromi added, "She hadn't learned how to clearly speak yet when they met sometime after Naru-san's second birthday, but when Mutsumi-san told Keitarō-san about an old wives' tale about how two people who end up going to Tōkyō University together would have a successful relationship afterwards, the very name of that university became the first clear words Naru-san ever spoke."

Another hum escaped the younger woman as she considered that. "That's right. Naru-sempai would have been about three or so when this promise was made with Sempai. How did all that turn into her being the promise girl?"

"Over time, Keitarō-san — as he had eventually come to believe was right and proper even at that young of an age — did his best to make Naru-san feel at home and comfortable when she came to stay at the Hinata-sō to recover from her illnesses." As Shinobu laughed — no matter how much Narusegawa Naru always complained about Urashima Keitarō's faults, she couldn't deny the fact that he gave his all when there were people in need of help — on hearing that statement, Hiromi added, "While there was some childhood jealousy on Mutsumi-san's part because she came to believe that Naru-san was taking Keitarō-san away from her, she did come to understand that he was trying to make Naru-san feel better. So — a little over a year after they first met — Mutsumi-san introduced Naru-san to the legend about Tōkyō University. They all then made a promise that they'd work together to get into that institution. To 'seal the deal,' Mutsumi-san gave Keitarō-san a Liddo-kun doll that he later gave Naru-san."

Shinobu gaped. "The Liddo-kun doll Naru-sempai has…?"

"Aye. Amazing, isn't it?"

"Hai, that is strange." She then sighed. "Does Sempai still believe it?"

"In the face of Karumi-san becoming his fiancée, you mean?"

"Hai."

A chuckle answered her. "If there is one thing Keitarō-san has come to admire about Naru-san since he came here last year, it's her strength and determination. After she rationally argued that she couldn't have been the promise girl due to her youth, he concluded — though it did hurt him deep inside — that he simply had no right to inflict his beliefs on her. Then he met up again with Mutsumi-san and began to ask himself, 'Is this the one?' And then he came back to Hinata and made Toshiko-san's acquaintance…and then…"

"He started making real friends here in town thanks to Toshiko-sempai, friends who really saw what he was like deep down. Friends who also defended him against Naru-sempai and the others here every time they wanted to hurt him for no real reason," Shinobu finished before she sighed, and then she reached into the refrigerator to pull out a bottle of spring water. "Now that Karumi-sempai's involved, there's no real need to worry about this whole promise girl business." She hummed as she opened the bottle and took a drink from it. "Besides, Sempai and Naru-sempai are both trying to get into Tōdai. That part of the promise is playing out true. I don't know what Mutsumi-sempai…"

"Shinobu! Hiromi-san!"

Both turned as footfalls heralded the arrival of Ogasawara Iori. Physically a woman of eighteen years of age, she was a third-year student and a classmate of Naru's at Hinata High School; both these days also went to after-school classes at the Sasaki Seminar in downtown Yokohama together. While Shinobu didn't really know Iori at all, she suspected that the graceful-looking woman with the well-styled, neck-length brown hair and the chocolate brown eyes behind reading glasses had more than friendly feelings for one Narusegawa Naru, as much as she also suspected that Sakurada Tamao had more than friendly feelings for one Aoyama Motoko.

"Whatever is the problem, Iori-san?" Ataru's adopted sister asked.

Iori took a deep breath. She was currently in a lovely yukata that discretely showed off the slender body underneath it. Like Mizote Toshiko, Ogasawara Iori had the fortune to have Tarash dai-Joranth as her master when she was still enslaved to the Niphentaxians; he had always treated his charges as real people and she clearly had benefited from it even if there was no brother-sister relationship between her and Tarash as there had been between him and Toshiko. "Sorry to interrupt, but Tanya and Kana have finished the full survey of the property. They're ready to deliver their findings right now."

The other women nodded…

* * *

The banquet hall, minutes later…

"So the whole building has to be condemned, right?"

"_Da_," Tanya Lipińsky said with a nod as she faced the assembled group of people now seated or standing around the coffee table beside the sofa now holding the Urashima siblings and Keitarō's fiancée. Also present were Shinobu's friends from middle school and the Moroboshi siblings, not to mention Shiina Kaoru, Urashima Haruka and the relatives of the wounded tenants currently aboard Space Factory #319. On the table itself was a large dataPADD projecting a three-dimensional image of the Hinata-sō's main buildings; on seeing the rectangular slate of quartz-like material and what it could do, the native Terrans from Hinata and elsewhere had simply gaped in awe. "If there were no further incidents of shock damage to the main building's weight-bearing frames, I'd say that the building could be ultimately saved with just the replacing of damaged frames. However, given that there is currently a tenant who has some serious self-discipline issues…"

"It can't be that bad!" Haruka protested.

Tanya glared at her. "Are you trained to be a civil engineer, _Gospožá_ Urashima?" the blonde, blue-eyed Avalonian-Russian/Pole then asked, the annoyance she felt at being questioned like that clearly obvious to all. "Do you understand anything about what it takes to keep a building this size and this complex in top shape? From what Kana and I've seen of this place, it's a wonder to me that it hasn't collapsed on the heads of your cousin and the others anytime in the last year or so! And your fool grandmother actually believed Keitarō Maširovič could maintain this place ALONE?!"

"The city building inspectors never found a thing!" Haruka snapped.

"When was the last full inspection of the building?" Keitarō calmly asked.

"Two years ago," Kudō Kana stated. "I confirmed that with a call to City Hall."

"In other words, right _**before**_ Su-san and Aoyama-san came here," the landlord stated, which made Haruka and Tsuruko wince on hearing the total lack of emotion in his voice on mentioning them. "And a year before they started using me for target practice because of one person's insecurities and the other person's immaturity." Again, those words made Keitarō's cousin and Motoko's sister wince. "Alright, then. How much will it cost to totally fix this up? I already have to lean on Ataru's family for a loan to pay the property taxes for this place this year. I don't want to pay for a complete replacement of the building itself."

Tanya and Kana exchanged a look, and then the latter sighed. "Keitarō-kun, we can have this place rebuilt from foundation up without any cost to you," she declared, which made Haruka gape in shock. "Even more so, we could reconfigure the property to allow more hot springs to be opened for private and public use. Not to mention consolidate the structure in a way that will allow us to add more rooms, thus permit more people to come live here. And we can add private cabins on the north side of the creek that flows near the border of the property, taking down that annex that's there."

"You can't do that!" Haruka complained.

"Why not, Haruka-san?" Keitarō wondered as he gazed at her.

The tea shop matron gargled on hearing him call her with a basic honorific in lieu of his calling her "Haruka-obasan" as he had done before. "I did sense a lot of tantric magic coming out of that place," Ataru stated. "What do you know of it, Taeko-san?"

"It's often been nicknamed the 'Inn of Fateful Unions' or the 'Forbidden Annex,'" Taeko stated. "Some idiot magical performed some sort of weird bonding ritual at the site of the building long before the land was turned over to Tadaoki's descendants in continued compensation for his idiocy." As Haruka glared at the former tokkaebi on noting that she wasn't taking any sort of responsibility for what the being known as T'aeja had done in 1603, Taeko added, "When the modern annex was built on the site at the turn of the last century, new couples that remained overnight in there came to enjoy very healthy and long relationships thanks to the remnants of the ritual magic that had soaked itself into every part of the building over the years. Keisuke-ya had to finally close the place down to prevent the power the Annex forces on people from being abused."

"We'll have to get rid of the magic residue, then," Keitarō stated. "Ataru, could Negako-san use this soulsword power of hers to burn the magic out of that place?"

"Easy as pie," Ataru affirmed. "If you want, before we head back to the bioroid factory tonight, we can look inside the Annex to see how bad it is."

"Please do so, Ataru-ya," Taeko stated. "Tanya-ya, much that I hate to impose on you and your sisters so soon after you finally got away from your former masters, but how soon could building parts be constructed to set up a series of small cottages between the north side of the Hinata Creek and the northern limits of the property?"

A snort answered her. "Within hours, _Gospožá_ Taeko."

"Fine, then. Do you have to return right away to your little castle up in space?"

The Avalonian-Russian/Pole systems engineer laughed. "_Nyet_! We have a glut of engineers and other artisans who can keep watch over the station. Many of them would gladly welcome the chance to build something that could be used for us in lieu of our former masters." Tanya then winked at Taeko. "Since you obviously want our help in preparing a potential future residence for my sisters down here on Earth, I'll probably have to beat back the volunteers with a stick once I put out the call for them."

"Wonderful," Taeko stated. "We'll do the rebuild of the property in steps. First step is to install an outer wall around the whole property, incorporating defences to keep unwanted intruders off the grounds. Second step is to demolish the Annex and install cabins on the north side of the Hinata Creek from the cascade to the eastern edge of the property grounds on Hinata-dōri to the east of Haruka-ya's tea shop. We'll also wall in and ward off that section of the grounds to prevent Naru-ya and Motoko-ya from trying to attack Keitarō-ya in case they don't like all the changes we're making here." She didn't take note of the wince from Naru's father and Motoko's sister when she said that. "Once they're in place, we'll shift out of the main building temporarily to allow it to be replaced. Cosmetic changes to places such as the retreat on the south side of the creek and that temple near the northwest end of the grounds can come after we're all settled back into our normal rooms. I'll have some personal needs for the manager's room once Keitarō-ya and Karumi-ya are settled into their private cottage. It'll involve that small annex to the north of the parking lot just west of the manager's room."

"We can prepare that as we go along, Taeko-sama," Kana promised.

"Good! Shinobu-ya, do you have any suggestions you want to make?"

Shinobu perked before she blushed on noting that Taeko had been willing to ask for _**her**_ opinions concerning the pending renovations of the Hinata-sō, and then she smiled as Moe placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I don't think it's really necessary to have the kitchen and dining room separate from the main building anymore, Sempai," she stated. "I think it'd be better if we expand the south wing to the east to make the kitchen and dining hall part of the main building itself. It's been cold at times in winter walking from the apartments to the dining hall to have something to eat." She then hummed before waving around her. "Atop that, why do we have the banquet hall here in the north wing? We can put that on the second floor over the kitchen and dining hall so we can concentrate where we eat and relax as a group all in one location. Since you want to put something in the West Annex where we have the laundry facilities, Sempai, we'll need to move them elsewhere…"

"The Detached Hall," Keitarō proposed. "Have that shifted down to become part of the south wing itself, with easy access to all the residents. The north wing can either then be torn down totally or made into a completely new residence wing."

"If we do that, we could fit a hundred more people in here," Yamamoto Eriko noted.

"I better talk to Tamasuke-kun first," Karumi then advised. "The city government wants a say on any major changes to this place. It'd be smart to warn him ahead of time."

Keitarō nodded. "How will this affect monthly rents?" Mitsune's aunt Hikari then asked.

"We haven't decided yet about that," the landlord stated with a sigh.

"If we're able to bring in things like fusion generators for power and other elements of our technology to alleviate all the maintenance and operational costs, I think room rents will drop quite significantly," Kana stated before she winked. "I'm sure that even your niece could afford it."

"She still has to pay Keitarō back first," Karumi coldly warned.

Haruka winced while Hikari nodded in understanding. "Of course," the latter stated.

"Can we help, Sempai?" Shinobu's friend Arai Kiyomi then asked, raising her hand.

"Sure you can," Keitarō stated before he indicated Scarlett Ryan and her fellow teachers from the Ōgusu Seminar. "But I want you to call your parents and ask their permission to stay here, then stay with Scarlett-san and the others at all times. As long as you're on the property here, I'm responsible for your safety. Okay?"

"HAI!" all of Shinobu's friends chanted.

"I'll prevail on our Noukiite friends if they can spare some sappers to assist in the detailed survey of the property," Hiromi then volunteered.

"Right! We'll need those tunnels under the grounds filled in, too!"

"I'll go down there to put wards up to keep Kaolla-ya's friends from Molmol from coming by uninvited," Taeko then volunteered as people rose to get to work.

Haruka blinked in confusion on hearing that…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Astronomical terminology notes:

**Geostationary orbit** is a circular orbit around the Earth at the plane of the Equator, flowing in the direction of the planet's rotation from west to east. As noted at the start of this part, such an orbit has an altitude of 35,786 kilometres. An object in this type of orbit would have an orbital period equal to one **sidereal day** (23 hours, 56 minutes, 4.0916 seconds), thus would appear motionless to an observer on the planet. This is the type of orbit that communications and weather satellites always assume to allow them to remain still relative to the location planetside so there is no need to waste power in shifting broadcast antennae to align with ground stations.

**Lagrangian points** (also called **Lagrange points** after the person who discovered the basic theory behind them, Italian-born mathematician and astronomer **Joseph-Louis Lagrange** [1736-1813]) are five positions in an orbital configuration where a small object affected only by gravity can theoretically be part of a constant orbital pattern with two larger celestial objects (such as the Earth and Moon or the Sun and the Earth), thus hold a relatively steady place as they orbit the larger celestial bodies. The five Lagrangian points around the Earth and the Moon would be located as follows:

**L1** — Directly between the Earth and the Moon, closer to the latter body;  
**L2** — Directly opposite the L1 point vis-à-vis the Moon;  
**L3** — Directly opposite the Moon vis-à-vis the Earth;  
**L4** — On the path of the Moon's orbit at a sixty degree angle ahead of the direct line between the Earth and the Moon in concerns with the latter body's rotation around the former; and  
**L5** — On the path of the Moon's orbit at a sixty degree angle behind the direct line between the Earth and the Moon in concerns with the latter body's rotation around the former.

To prevent confusion, the designation of Sun-Earth Lagrangian points are noted as "SEL#" while Earth-Moon points are "EML#."

2) **Sakurayama Momoko** is a minor character from _Kidō Keisatsu Patlabor_.

3) An **Imperial Rescript** is a document always issued by the serving Heavenly Sovereign; it is the rough equivalent of a **Royal Proclamation** issued by the serving Monarch of Canada or any of the other British Commonwealth realms. Very much like a Royal Proclamation, an Imperial Rescript (the word **rescript** itself means "written back") is not initiated by the Heavenly Sovereign on his own vocation. Such a document is issued in response to a specific demand or request made by its addressee and would not be used to apply to more general legislation. Some of the most famous Imperial Rescripts issued by the Heavenly Sovereigns of Japan over the years include the **Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors** (_Gunjin Chokuyu_) of 4 January 1882 to codify the ethics to be followed by members of the Imperial Army and Navy, the **Imperial Rescript on Education** (_Kyōiku ni Kansuru Chokugo_) of 30 October 1890 which articulated government policy on the guiding principles of education and the untitled **Humanity Declaration** (_Ningen-sengen_) — sometimes called the **Imperial Rescript on the Construction of a New Japan** (_Shin-Nihon Kensetsu ni Kansuru Shōsho_) — of 1 January 1946 where the Shōwa Emperor renounced any spiritual divine status as a prequel to the introduction of a new Constituion in the wake of the end of World War Two. These days, Imperial Rescripts do not possess the overreaching legal status they enjoyed before 1947…but their moral weight is respected, especially in the eyes of followers of Shintō (the Heavenly Sovereign is the equivalent of the Pope to Roman Catholics when it comes to his position as the supreme high priest of Japan's native religion).

4) Japan has always followed a system of era names (**nengō**) when it comes to year dating; this system was inherited from the Chinese (where it was known as **niánhào**). While using the Gregorian calendar used in the West, the Japanese also indicate a particular year by the number of years since the start of the era in question. Prior to 1868 and the end of the Tokugawa period, era names changed quite frequently; the average length of a particular era ranged from five to ten years. In this system, the term **Bunka Go-nen** (literally "fifth year of Bunka," _Bunka_ literally means "culture" or "civilization") is applied to the year 1808 on the Gregorian calendar. After 1868 and the start of the Meiji Restoration reforms to modernize Japan, the government initiated a new era naming system that corresponded to the reign of a single Heavenly Sovereign; this era name would become the posthumous name of the corresponding Son of Heaven after his death. Thus, the **twentieth year of Shōwa** is the year 1945 as that was the twentieth year of the reign of the **Shōwa Emperor** (birth name **Hirohito**) (1901-89, ruled 1926-89).

5) The **Black Dragon Society** (in Japanese, _Kokuryū-kai_) was a prominent paramilitary, ultra-nationalist, right-wing group in Japan. First formed in 1901, it initially supported all efforts to drive out the Russians from any place south of the Amur River (whose Chinese name, **Hēilóng-jiāng**, literally means "Black Dragon River") that then served as the border between the two nations. With members spread out from ministers of the Cabinet to high-ranking military officers to secret agents to elements of the underworld, the Black Dragon Society became a powerful political force in Japanese society. The Imperial Army gladly made use of agents of the Society when it expanded its operations over Korea, Manchuria, Siberia and other parts of China during the early decades of the Twentieth Century. By the time the militarists began gaining true power in Japan in the 1930s, the Society had evolved into a mainstream political organization, publicly attacking liberal and leftist thought as a way of finally eliminating all forms of democracy. Although it never had more than several dozen members at any one time, the close ties of its membership to leading members of the government, military and powerful business leaders gave it power and influence far greater than other ultra-nationalist groups elsewhere. Because of this, the Society came to be seen in popular culture as one of the driving forces behind the launching of the Greater East Asia War in 1941; by this time, Society agents had even been dispatched to the United States to cause agitation there amongst African-Americans. In real life, the Society was shut down by the Allied occupation authorities in 1946.

In the universe of this story — with the existence of metahuman warriors that fought for many of the nations involved in World War Two akin to what was depicted in comics such as _All-Star Squadron_ and _Young All-Stars_ in the 1970s and 1980s — it was discovered by forces firmly loyal to the Shōwa Emperor that the Society's leadership was determined to launch a guerrilla war against the Americans after the formal surrender of Japan; the Society's leaders realized that, in the wake of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, any opposition to continuing the war was drying up and they were determined to press on the fight all the way to America even in the face of the threat by President **Harry S. Truman** (1884-1972) to unleash "_a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this Earth._" This prompted the Emperor to order the _Saikō Jinseijutsu_ to wipe out the Society. During the night of 14-15 August 1945, Negako killed over six hundred Society leaders and warriors, cementing her reputation earned centuries earlier as the **Black Death of the Martial Arts**. Those that survived — not wanting to face such a fearsome being, much less fearing the arrival of Major Dean Raeburn in Japan after an eight-year absence; as Grandmaster of the Tensei-ryū, she was honour-bound to serve the Son of Heaven whenever it didn't conflict with her oath to serve the Canadian Crown — killed themselves in the weeks prior to the arrival of the Allied occupation forces.

6) _Yatsura_ and _The Senior Year_ character and storyline notes:

The incident concerning the space-taxi and the theft of the world's oil supply was shown in the manga story "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" (_Yatsura_ manga episode #3). As an aside, a retaliatory attack by Muslim extremists on the Stormtroopers provoked by the events in that manga story was depicted in my fanfic _Lonely Souls_.

The **Kuromegane** (literally "Black Glasses") are Mendō Shūtarō's personal troupe of bodyguards/servants, who dress alike in dark business suits and RayBan sunglasses; they look quite similar to the Men In Black.

The **Kuroko** (literally "Black Clothes") are Mendō Ryōko's personal troupe of bodyguards/servants. They all dress like the "invisible" stagehands seen in traditional Japanese theatre such as Kabuki. Since they're all in black, the audience is supposed to totally ignore them…which Mike Smith and I played up well in _TSY_ by giving Ryōko's friends ninja-like skills; they are the experts in getting people from place to place totally unseen.

The issue with the **Rosebuds** as provoked by **Miyake Shinobu** was depicted in the anime episode "Goodbye Season" (_Yatsura_ anime episode #64), which was partially inspired by the manga story "Ataru Calls It Quits" (manga episode #61).

The story of **Toghmoghbiki** and its destruction by **Atar** to save **Ram** was described in detail in the _TSY_ story "Noa."

Moroboshi Ataru's newly-adopted sister **Ryūkō Kyōrei** (**Moroboshi [****_née_**** Koro] Hiromi**) is a character I first created for the _Faking It - Great Guardians_ storyline at the Anime Add-venture. I later revised and updated her in the _Restart Deluge - The Emperor's Army_ storyline there; my pen-name there is "Gorgo." Her story is better explained in the writer's notes for Part One of _Phoenix From the Ashes_.

As for **Moroboshi Tariko**, she is based on the "normal" version of Ataru who appeared in the _Yatsura_ manga story "Just The Two of Us" (manga episode #18).

7) Translations: **TBS** — Tōkyō Broadcasting System, which is a local television station in the Kantō region of Japan; **Sentō** — Public bathhouse; **SBS** — Sŏul Broadcasting System, part of the third-largest television network in South Korea; **ANN** — All-Nippon News Network, a national news television network affiliated with the _Asahi Shimbun_, Japan's second-largest national newspaper; **Iinchō** — Literally "committee head," this is the title applied to a particular classroom representative on the student council in any Japanese school; **Tai** — Japanese name for the **red seabream** fish common to the North Pacific Ocean, which is quite popular in the Orient thanks to its flavour and its traditional use as an auspicious food served at New Year's and weddings; **Juku** — Name for private "cram schools" that offer lessons conducted after regular school hours and on the weekends; **IELTS** — International English Language Testing System, the University of Cambridge-run standardized testing system for English language proficiency; **De facto** — Literally "concerning fact," this is a term that indicates something is being carried out in practice but has not been cemented in legal procedure; **De jure** — Literally "concerning the law," this indicates something that is actually cemented in legal procedure; **Gospožá** — Lady/Mrs.; **Maširovič** — Literally "son of Mashiro," this is the patronymic that would be used by Russians when they would address Keitarō (which Tanya Lipińsky was programmed to do); **Nyet** — No.

As an aside, the "**Ž**" in the Scientific Romanization of Russian represents the voiced retroflex fricative consonant similar to the "s" in _trea__s__ure_. When there is no ability to use the caron over the "z," this letter is always Romanized as "zh."

8) _Kita-e_ character notes:

**Shiraishi Karin** is, as noted above, a character from _Diamond Dust_. She was a character who suffered from **pneumothorax** — an abnormal collection of air or gas in the pleural space that separates the lung from the chest wall and which may interfere with normal breathing — and was forced to remain in the hospital long-term to recover from such an illness.

**Sakuramachi Yūko**, as noted above, was a character in _White Illumination_. A twenty year-old member of the public defence forces, she often rides around on her bicycle performing her duties and often takes pictures of the player character whenever she helped guide him in visiting places he wished to see.

9) **Pocky** is a popular Japanese snack food. They are biscuit sticks coated in chocolate; later versions also used almond and strawberry. Pocky first appeared in 1966.

10) The current room allocations in the Hinata-sō's southern wing:

SECOND FLOOR  
Room 201 — **Maehara Shinobu**  
Room 204 — **Urashima Keitarō** (landlord)  
Room 205 — **Konno Mitsune**

THIRD FLOOR  
Room 301 — **Kaolla Su**  
Room 302 — **Aoyama Motoko**  
Room 304 — **Narusegawa Naru**

According to a diagram of the second floor of the Hinata-sō from the manga, there are a Room 202 and Room 203 between Shinobu's and Keitarō's rooms; these two rooms bracket a hallway leading to the south-side corridor passing in front of the individual living quarters overlooking the southern part of the property. Logically, there have to be corresponding rooms on the third floor as well. Also, there is a first floor under the second floor; this is where the lobby of the Hinata-sō is located. Logically, additional rooms can be located here, though such was not shown in the _Love Hina_ manga.

11) Like other place locations in _Love Hina_, the exact location of the **Sasaki Seminar** was never given in the manga series.


	6. The Thugs Plot Against the Avalonians

The Hinata-sō, on the north side of Hinata Creek close to the Forbidden Annex, mid-afternoon…

"I need to talk to you!"

Keitarō sighed, not taking his eyes away from the dataPADD that had been given to him by Kudō Kana. Around him, machines similar to construction labors from the _Kidō Keisatsu Patlabor_ television series, now piloted by volunteers from Space Factory #319, were busy digging out the foundations of the new cottages that would line the north shore of Hinata Creek from the Forbidden Annex to the eastern tip of the grounds. The soil removed from those foundations was placed on a portable materialiser — Haruka still thought of the word "transporter" on seeing a device like that — pad to be beamed into the tunnel network under the grounds so they could be finally filled in. Watching over this operation was Tanya Lipińsky, with a building inspector from Hinata City Hall standing beside the blonde Avalonian-Russian/Pole.

"So talk, Haruka-san," he said.

Haruka jolted on hearing him once again address her with the basic honorific in lieu of his normal "Oba-chan"…which she hated and always upbraided him about every time he did it, though she suspected he didn't do it out of spite but respect. To have that become _this_ in such a short time…!

"Why are you doing this?!" she then asked.

"Doing what?" he wondered, again not looking at her.

"This!" the tea shop matron snapped. "Moving to take the Hinata-sō from Obā-chan, completely ripping the place down, letting that _demon_ become the landlady…OWWW!"

That came from the backhand slap Keitarō delivered to her, moving with such speed that Haruka didn't see it in time to try to dodge. As she stared wide-eyed at her cousin — as far as she knew, Keitarō had NEVER physically struck ANYONE in his life! — he gave her a glare that would melt solid lead. "That 'demon' as you call her has been more of a family to me than you and everyone else I'm related to, Haruka-san," he said in a voice of mid-winter Arctic ice, which made her quake in disbelief and fear at the level of sheer rage he was now expressing. "To say anything of that little love-struck idiot those candy-lovers I'm forced to call parents adopted as my sister…who has _**never**_ seemed to realize that her desires to become my wife make me sick to my stomach!" He turned back to gaze on the dataPADD, his hand moving to type a note that would be sent immediately to Kana — now in the banquet hall — so she would be able to read his latest recommendation for the Hinata Creek Cottages. "That seems to be the theme, isn't it? As long as little dumb Keitarō does what he's told, he's given a pat on the head and never given a chance to think for himself! People instantly object when he tries to make something for himself because it doesn't follow the old bat's stupid little chess game!" Ignoring Haruka's gargled croak on hearing him address their grandmother with such a derogatory term, he then added, "I'm doing what I was tricked into doing last year. I'm being the landlord and manager of the Hinata-sō. But I can't do it with one hand tied behind my back and without money to pay for the property taxes!" He then gazed over at the inspector standing beside Tanya. "Ashinano-san!"

Ashinano Hitoshi looked over. "Hai, Keitarō-kun?"

"If I can't pay the property taxes by the first of April, what happens?"

He smiled. "The city would seize the Hinata-sō, evict all current residents, then move to recoup the taxes — plus penalties for lack of payment — before either allowing the original owner of the property to take what's left back or selling it at auction."

Haruka's jaw hit the ground on hearing that. As she had long known, the Hinata-sō property also included her tea shop. If the city seized the dorms, she would be out of business…and effectively out of a home!

"And the current property taxes owing for this fiscal year?" Keitarō asked.

"Point one percent of current property value, which is 45,920,066 yen."

"Arigatō, Ashinano-san. Sorry to bother you," Keitarō said with a smile.

A nod. "You're not bothering me, son. It's about time that _one_ member of your family does what he has to do to acknowledge your family's responsibilities owning property in this town demands."

"Happy to be of assistance," the landlord said before he turned to glare at his cousin. "So tell me, Haruka-san, where the hell am I supposed to get _**forty-five million yen**_?! Right now, I've only got _two_ paying tenants…and I'm in the midst of _**evicting**_ one of them right now!" Ignoring Haruka's wince on hearing once more that he planned to drive Kaolla Su permanently off the property — which she knew he couldn't legally do…but given his current challenge now in the courts to let him become the property owner due to his being not informed of certain matters when he became manager, that might soon become a moot point — he added, "Thanks to Konno-san and my idiocy before my friends opened my eyes about that, I have no savings that could help pay for those property taxes!" He pointed to the Annex. "I have to BORROW money from Ataru's family to pay for the taxes this year! Possibly next year as well if I can't get enough rental money from new tenants into the Hinata-sō in time! Before you start objecting to me about doing things like this, pull your damned head out of the sand and look around to see what's REALLY going on around you!"

With a disgusted snort, he turned to walk towards the Annex, leaving a stunned Haruka behind…

* * *

Watching this from nearby, Tanya shook her head before turning to gaze back on the new construction. "To believe she's a Tōdai graduate," Ashinano whispered.

"In comparison to universities around the world, Tōkyō University doesn't rank very highly," the blonde Avalonian-Russian/Pole systems engineer noted.

He nodded. "Hai, I've heard that as well. Perhaps your people's arrival will change that finally and make the people running that school open their eyes up to how much they're dragging the whole country down by forcing people to rote-learn things." A shake of the head. "We're still influenced too much by the post-war mentality of doing everything to rebuild our country and make it an economic superpower, Tanya-san. If we can't find a way to really start innovating, we'll be left in the dust by countries like India!"

"It is only the right thing to do to help you people finally advance yourselves in a way that gives you control over your futures," she noted. "We've really no place to go since the inhabited worlds around Earth are taken by other powers. Atop that, since your solar system's a choke point between those powers — that's what actually provoked the Urusians to launch the Tag Race last year — our being here will force those powers to finally start practicing what they preach and respecting your people's rights as a sentient species." Tanya snorted derisively. "They didn't care at all about us! There's no way in Eternity that people in governments on planets like Uru could have ignored our presence on Phentax Two and the colony worlds!"

"Were you abused?" he quietly asked; since Tanya was Russian and Polish in spirit, his asking such a personal question wouldn't be seen as a major _faux pas_ as it might be perceived were it a native Japanese person being asked something like that.

She gave him a light smile. "_Nyet_. My late master was actually Kaoru's master as well; I was the second one of the replicas of the _White Illumination_ characters to be created to be a companion for his son. I was born two years after Kaoru." She gazed at him with eyes glistening with tears, which made him reach for a handkerchief. "Nothrha — that was his name, Nothrha sudai-Garanth — was a wonderful man," she said as she nodded after he gave her the cloth to wipe her eyes. "You would like him. Always did everything he could to bring comfort to people who came to his clinic seeking aid. Because he was a medical doctor, he could tell right away that all the stupid words about our being nothing more than robots was just a _maskiróvka_ forced on him and everyone else by the government and the church of the day to prevent people from questioning their 'wisdom.'" She made finger-quotes before handing the handkerchief back. "He was able to make the villagers see that, so we were accepted as part of their various families. Many of us like Kaoru actually gave birth to children with our masters. Even fooled the authorities when they came by to ensure such children had not been born; if they were found, they were seized right away and taken to Phentax Twelve to be placed in cryogenetic suspension."

He gaped at her. "Gods! Why would they do that to _**children**_?!"

"Because they inherited our ability to create," she answered. "To the leaders of the various churches in power on Phentax Two, that couldn't be allowed."

Ashinano shook his head at the insanity of doing something like that. To do _**that**_ to helpless, harmless children because they were gifted with something special that could have been used to better people's lives…! "Ye gods!" he breathed out. "To believe that your masters were literally sitting on a gold mine after they discovered the bioroid factory and learned of your people…and then they just…!" He shook his head. "I'm glad that Negako-sama and Tsukiko-sama made the Heavenly Sovereign see that! You people…!" He then shook his head again. "Well, you're free and safe now, Tanya-san."

"Not totally safe," she warned him. "What the Noukiites and Yehisrites did literally stripped the Galactic Federation — that's the alliance of powers that Uru and Phentax Two are a part of — of their most powerful member militarily. The enemies of the Federation will see that and move to pounce. Right now, I'll bet that leaders from Onishuto to Baran to Zeiwanopolis and elsewhere are scrambling like mad to try to figure out what to do in the face of losing a powerful military ally like Phentax Two." A snort. "No doubt, local taxes to pay for military expenditures are going to be going up soon."

He gazed at her. "Will they try to force you to ally with them?"

Tanya gave another snort. "They'll probably try…but with Noukiios and Yehisril watching over this — both of them are two of the local superpowers — the Federation will have to step VERY cautiously around us. Atop that, we're also seeking the protection of a race called the Yizibajohei; they're a race of metahumans the peoples of this part of the galaxy are **_mortally terrified_** of. You can't even say the NAME of their race or their home planet without people from places like Uru going into panic attacks." As Ashinano chuckled, she added, "That won't sit well with a lot of people throughout the Federation…which is why we also chose to come here to ally ourselves with Earth."

"Making them practice what they preach?"

"_Da!_"

He laughed…

* * *

The Annex…

"Ataru?! Tariko?! Maria-san?! Are you okay?!"

"C'mon in, Keitarō! It's safe!"

Hearing that from Ataru's twin sister, Keitarō walked through the open door of the mountainside inn that had been built over a hundred years ago as a vacation villa for visiting foreigners who wanted to sample the delights of the hot springs of Hinata and needed a place to stay. The interior of the structure was totally bare of furniture; the place was cleaned out years ago as a way of ensuring people would not want to sleep inside the Forbidden Annex and get caught by the powerful tantric magic that saturated this place. Currently, Keitarō's friends — and yes, he was comfortable at the idea of thinking of Moroboshi Ataru and Moroboshi Tariko as his friends now even if they had only met several times before…thanks always to Aoyama Motoko and her going overboard with her ki attacks, which sent him flying over FORTY kilometres to land in Tomobiki, usually right on Ataru's head! — were busy walking up and down the length of the main reception room. While Keitarō didn't have the benefit of the thousand years of martial arts knowledge his friends had been automatically gifted thanks to their close exposure to the soul of the _Saikō Jinseijutsu_ for a decade, he could sense the intensity of their search as they scanned the various ki matrices embedded in the Annex's structure.

"How bad is it?" he asked as he walked over to join them.

"I made a mistake when I first looked at this place, Keitarō-ya."

He perked before looking towards the grand staircase leading to the upper floor. "Nuna-ya!" he called out as Taeko came to join them, followed by Maria Eiffel.

The former tokkaebi gave him a wry smile. "Turns out that the sorcerer who unleashed the magic that affected this building was actually trying to make a place where couples COULD come together without any outside interference," she explained. "From what I could sense of the magical echo of his presence here, he was the brother of a merchant from the early Tokugawa years who fell in love with a samurai's sister and wanted to marry her. Since they were of different social castes, the samurai wouldn't allow his sister to marry below her station. She did love the merchant, so they came here and committed suicide by throwing their bodies into the cataract of Hinata Creek."

The others all winced on hearing that. "Damn!" Tariko breathed out as she came over to join them. "What happened?"

"The sorcerer recovered their bodies and buried them together in a grave just up the hill from here, Tariko-ya," Taeko answered, pointing to the north and one of the small ridges leading up to the crest of Ōgusu-yama. "He then cursed the samurai to suffer bad luck for the rest of his life. Once he did that, he created a small shrine — the remnants of it are buried under the basement — to act as a place where couples who might face outside pressure to not come together could actually come together and stay together no matter what. With that, he placed enchanted markers on the major roads leading in and out of old Edo to attract such people down here so they could be happy when his brother and would-be sister-in-law were stopped from seeking out their own happiness and killed themselves in response." Taeko sighed. "Still, Keisuke-ya did the right thing in closing down this place and making sure people wouldn't accidentally get trapped in something they may not have wanted in the first place."

The others nodded. "So how soon can Negako-san get here?" Keitarō asked.

"I _**am**_ here, Keitarō."

With a frightened scream, he nearly leapt out of his clothes on hearing that toneless voice, then spun around to see Moroboshi Negako step up from the basement. "N-n-n-Negako-san!"

Ataru and Tariko laughed as Taeko smirked and Maria politely giggled. "Relax, man! You just have to get used to Onē-san!" Earth's tag race champion then advised as he gave Keitarō a playful slap on the shoulder.

The landlord of the Hinata-sō nodded. "Y-y-yeah…!"

He didn't see the amused smile on Negako's face…

* * *

Hinata City Hall, that moment…

"Damn! Are you serious, Tamasuke-kun?!"

"I've never been more serious, Karumi-san," Mayor Takada Tamasuke stated as he gazed at Keitarō's fiancée with a knowing smile. Dō Karumi and Moroboshi Hiromi were seated in the guest chairs on the other side of his desk from him, a large architectural map of the Hinata-sō and neighbouring properties spread out between them. "When Hina effectively closed down the Hinata-sō to visitors, the neighbouring hotels tried to pick up the slack. However, the Hinata-sō was the oldest and the most respected of all the hot springs hotels in town. When people learned that the Hinata-sō had shut down, they felt as if there was nothing here in Hinata for them to see, so they just stopped coming and transferred their business to other hot springs areas. The owners of the Mikka Hotel declared bankruptcy last June, the Kōjō Hotel followed in August and we lost the Ōgusu Hotel in October." He shook his head. "One stupid woman just gutted out the whole town's economy because she wanted to make a safe place for five scared little girls! What about the fifty thousand people who live here?!"

Karumi snorted. "What do you expect of an idiot like Hina?! The bitch was a control fanatic even when she was a teenager! Look what she did to me!"

The mayor nodded in understanding. "So you actually desired Keitarō-san to become the legal owner of these properties once he was made the official owner of the Hinata-sō, then you would have united them all together as one large complex to attract new tourists to the city," Hiromi recapped. "Given what happened concerning the Avalonians, how will his idea of turning the Hinata-sō into a hostel for new immigrants to Japan affect your plans to revitalize the town's economy through the reopening of these other hotels?"

"You probably would know this better than I do, Moroboshi-himesama," he answered. "The government is pretty much fast-tracking citizenship papers for all the Avalonians who were living in Japan at the time your family helped liberate their sisters from slavery. That's over ten thousand people, including the women made to look like foreigners such as Scarlett Ryan-san. With potentially _**millions**_ of Avalonian-Japanese on those ships and space stations in orbit over Earth, the population implosion our country was facing could be avoided once the gates are opened and they're allowed to come down from space. Why not let them live here? Yes, there are over two billion Avalonians up in space…"

"Currently, the advisory council now forming around Otako-san is suggesting that — atop terraforming Mars — the Avalonians approach the Seifukusu and seek to obtain thirty Class M planets in twenty-eight star systems located to the galactic west and south of Earth," the matriarch of the Moroboshi Clan of Mutsu — as formally appointed by the Heavenly Sovereign thanks to the provisions of the will of Hiromi's late adopted grandmother, Moroboshi Nagaiwakai, when he met Negako early the previous morning at the Kōkyo; such provisions had given the Son of Heaven the SOLE right to agree to or reject any potential successor as matriarch of the Moroboshi Clan since no granddaughter had been born in Ataru's generation…as well as giving him the SOLE right to act in the place of the clan matriarch when it came to approving any potential wife for Ataru as such a woman would then be able to become the new matriach, which would have guaranteed that any "marriage" between Ataru and Redet Hensō would be ILLEGAL under Japanese law! — said with an understanding nod. "Those worlds have colonies that were set up to act as defensive 'tripwire' lines in case the worlds of the Federation decided to invade their space. Small populations, average size of ten thousand per planet including the garrison troops there. Moving them to larger colony planets and withdrawing the garrisons there would save the Imperial Houses billions of uniCredits which they could funnel elsewhere. Not only would those planets give the Avalonians — and the Terrans — new land to settle to alleviate the drain on natural resources on Earth, it would also alleviate the fears the leaders of the Galactic Federation have towards the Seifukusu threatening their trade routes that pass by this system between their member states. Dividing those thirty planets among the base population of Earth would give Japan a large share of one such world. That would certainly refocus the national economy in a direction that would eradicate unemployment and stimulate creativity, which would finally pull this nation out of the rut it's been in since the 1980s."

Mayor Takada gaped. He knew what the local galactic political situation was like; the Men In Black had released a detailed public statement about that on Thursday morning when they moved to help the people of Earth understand why so many alien species were interested in their planet. But to believe that members of the provisional government of the Avalonians aboard the bioroid factory were thinking so far ahead of the game at THIS early stage…!

"So we would gain access to all their technology?!" he demanded.

Hiromi nodded. "Hai. And yes, there is the potential threat of abuse of such technology — especially when you start factoring in things like nuclear fusion and access to anti-matter; I can only imagine what lunatics like Usāmah bin Lādin would do with an anti-matter bomb! — but the benefits far outweigh the detriments in my eyes." As her host winced at the idea of the leader of al-Qā'idah getting his hands on the same type of annihilation device the Niphentaxians had buried in the shopping district of Tomobiki, Hiromi added, "Besides, the outside galaxy won't leave us alone, especially now that we know we're not alone in this Universe. Atop that — no thanks to that dullard Ōgi — people here on Earth are aware there are people out there who wouldn't care a whit about Terrans whatsoever. We have no choice but to grasp the bull by the horns and tame it to serve us. It's the same situation the Americans forced on Japan when Perry-taisa sailed his black ships into Edo Bay in 1853. However, THIS time, we have the lessons learned from the mad stampede to equal the West that saw us engage in the Greater East Asia War to remind us of the many mistakes we _shouldn't_ make as we move to seek out our destiny as a people amongst the stars. Under own own control, of course."

"Of course," he said. "So Karumi-san, could you persuade Keitarō-kun and Taeko-sama to expand whatever they now plan for the Hinata-sō to include the sites of the Mikka, the Kōjō and the Ōgusu so that we can welcome as many Avalonians into Hinata City as we can? Especially those poor girls who were hideously abused by their former masters?"

Karumi smirked. "He'll go for it, Tamasuke-kun." She then gazed on Hiromi. "We might need an extra loan from your people to pay for the properties, though."

"I can get the funds freed up when you need them," the younger-looking Terran-form Avalonian clone of Moroboshi Ataru stated. "What's the asking price, Your Honour?"

The mayor smiled…

* * *

A half-hour later, Karumi and Hiromi stepped out of City Hall and made their way towards the Hinata-dōri and the climb up the lower slopes of Ōgusu-yama to the Hinata-sō. "Are you sure you can spend that sort of money?" Karumi asked.

Hiromi smirked. "Oji-san's legal wards — who were forced away from Onii-san by his mother as a way of making sure he didn't learn of what his uncle and grandmother set aside for him so she could steal the money — know they're in the doghouse in the eyes of Onii-san and Onē-san. One of those wards is Yumoa Reigi; he's chief of operations for Toranoseishin in Tomobiki. I personally can understand why he kept himself away from Onii-san; Onii-san's mother threatened to call the police on him several times, especially after Hensō-san came into our lives and he tried to force restraints on her with the help of the Kantō Magical Association. I can accept what happened and welcome what support he — and through him, the Inshin Group — can give me when I need it." Hiromi winked. "When Onii-san was given all that money by the government of Japan and other nations as a reward for his success against Hensō-san, Reigi-san contacted the Imperial Palace Agency and warned them that Onii-san's mother would try to steal that money from him. Once His Majesty was made aware of what was going on, he persuaded the Ministry of Justice to put a freeze on those funds until Onii-san was of legal age. That didn't impress that selfish woman one bit."

"Why don't you fuckin' kill her and be done with it?" Karumi wondered.

Hiromi smirked. "As we are both well aware, Karumi-san, killing people is far too easy," she noted. "Allowing them to _suffer_ for as long as possible makes whatever justice we seek against such evil creatures all the sweeter." As the older woman laughed, the matriarch of the Moroboshi Clan then sobered. "Atop that, despite the pain she's unleashed on Onii-san over the years, Okā-san herself is still in mourning over the loss of Onii-san's twin brother Kaeru. Aye, mourning for _thirteen_ years seems too much…but unlike other mothers who were forced to bury their children, there was no body for Otō-san and Okā-san to commit to the family grave in Sendai after Kaeru-oniisan died. It disappeared from the hospital bed he was in shortly after he expired."

Karumi gaped. "What the hell happened?!"

The younger woman shrugged. "We don't know. Not even Onē-sama knows…which is shocking given how much she **_does_** know about our family history." Hiromi then chuckled. "When we talked about Kaeru-oniisan while we were on Okusei, Onē-san came up with the idea that he might have been retrieved by aliens and restored to life, then taken away to live on another planet. Given our experiences with Hensō-san…"

"That doesn't sound so crazy these days," Karumi finished.

Both then made their way into a Korean restaurant. Once inside, they took their places and put in an order for pulgogi; as Karumi's new body had only been templated twenty-four hours before, she couldn't eat "hard" foods as her stomach still needed time to adjust to being fully active after months being in cryogenetic suspension as the non-templated bioroid body around it awaited the injection of DNA to give it a final form. As the owner of the restaurant — a fifth-generation descendant of old Chosŏn named Matsuda Yūsaku — personally moved to serve the side dishes before the marinated beef was brought out, a grinning Karumi then asked, "So what do you for an encore, Hiromi-san?" As Hiromi gazed on her, the older woman smirked. "Helped liberate a whole _**race**_ from slavery…!"

"Personally, I just hope that things concerning my siblings and I will calm down finally," Hiromi admitted with a sigh before nodding thanks as Yūsaku's wife Akemi moved to serve tea. "_Kamsahamnida_!" she said, which made their hosts — who spoke the native language of the Land of the Morning Calm fluently even if they were legally Japanese citizens and had lived their whole lives in Japan — gape in shock at her total lack of any local accent. "But I doubt that will happen. This is not because of the strained relations with the other elements of our family or the questionable friendships between Onii-san and his peers in Tomobiki. I agree with you, Karumi-san, that after helping liberate the Avalonians, whatever things Onii-san might still be blamed for because of his interaction with Hensō-san will be totally cast aside." Another sigh escaped her. "Outside Tomobiki, of course."

"So why even think of going back there, Hiromi-san?" Akemi wondered. "Do you want to continue to expose your poor brother to those awful parents of his, much less idiots like that Stormtroopers group or that rich fool who lives in Tomobiki?"

"The true question that has to be asked is this, Oba-san: Do I wish to expose _**them**_ to the darker side of Onii-san's soul?" Hiromi whispered with a sad smile.

The others gazed quizzically at her…

* * *

Somewhere in Hinata, that moment…

"Is she dead?"

"No, she's not," the leader stated with a depressed sigh as he placed the phone back in its cradle. "But Hina-sama's in such a bad way, they dare not move her out of Spa, let alone bring her back to Japan." Another sigh. "In a way, it's a good thing. I wouldn't want to be the one to tell her about what's happened in the last two days. To have BOTH that damned tōshi who wanted to marry Hina-sama's brother AND that damned tsukumogami from that sword reborn as two of the Space Angels…and with both of them now so close to Hina-sama's grandson…!"

The others grimly nodded. Commonly seen as mere thugs by those people in Hinata City who encountered them from time to time, they were all former kobun of the Tōnihon Dōmon-kai, one of the Yakuza clans who were effectively driven out of business by the Kantō Sagara-kai under the leadership of its young and dynamic leader, Hōjō Akira. In the wake of Akira's assuming the chairmanship of the Sagara-kai two years ago and his effectively eliminating the Dōmon-kai within a year of being confirmed as oyabun, the "thugs" found themselves hired by Urashima Hina, a woman who always seemed quite wise and knowledgeable…and even more so, didn't give a damn at all about a person's background or what s/he had done before they came under her employment or protection; look what she had done for the poor girls now living at the Hinata-sō! While they knew that Hina's grandson Keitarō was cut out of the same cloth as she, there was a chance that he might stray away from the path Hina had set out for him when she made him manager of the Hinata-sō the previous spring: To prove he could run a place like the old hot springs hotel AND earn his way into Tōkyō University at the same time…while also finding a way to earn the love of his "promise girl," Narusegawa Naru.

The Avalonians' arrival on the scene two weeks ago when Keitarō had saved the life of Mizote Toshiko had thrown a HUGE monkey wrench into the whole works…especially now that the bioroids' very existence had been revealed to humanity as a whole, with governments worldwide bending themselves backward to welcome the alien women amongst them.

They all knew the resentment and anger many in Hinata City felt towards their boss-lady because of her decision to shut down the Hinata-sō as a hot springs hotel, which effectively gutted the local economy. While they were sympathetic to the people who lost business because of the closure of the Hinata-sō to the general public — the former Yakuza thugs knew what living on mere yen a day could do to someone — their loyalty to Hina forced them to keep a vigilant eye out for people who might want to strike at her by finding a way of turning Keitarō against her. That meant leaning on the local police to call off any investigations against the girls of the Hinata-sō for their acts of violence against their landlord, much less derail plots by the mayor and his people to have the Hinata-sō seized. They hadn't gotten far towards either end; lacking any real support from any of the major Yakuza clans like the Sagara-kai meant that whatever threats they could bring on people would easily be brushed off if their independent status became known…and there were a LOT of people in Hinata City who would do anything to remove any advantage people working for Urashima Hina and her family could use by whatever means possible.

And now, with the boss-lady's grandson surrounded by seventy-eight _**telepaths**_, let alone a _**tōshi**_ and the monster who had once been inside the _**Yōkatana Hinata**_…!

The leader of Hina's enforcers — as the thugs saw themselves — tried not to grimace as he recalled the events of the last two weeks. Hearing that Naru-sama, Motoko-sama, Kaolla-himesama and Haruka-sama had been hospitalized thanks to the Mizote bitch, they had gone out to find the stupid little bōsōzoku and make her understand certain things were not allowed when it came to those people under Urashima Hina's protection. They did find her…but try as they might to corner her to make her see the light on things, she avoided them with ease! _That damned empathy of theirs!_ the leader of the enforcers snarled on recalling what had just been revealed over the news in the last two days about the Avalonians' psionic powers.

What was worse, Mizote seemed hell-bent on making the poor girls of the Hinata-sō suffer in answer to what they had done to Keitarō, inviting a tonne of friends — amongst them five _very_ popular teachers at the Ōgusu Seminar, where many kids from Hinata went for after-school classes, including Shinobu-sama! — to date the guy while Naru-sama and her friends were recovering in hospital from broken wrists, snapped knees, crushed noses and dislocated jaws. Try as the enforcers might when they moved to correct things, they couldn't get close to _**any**_ of those bitches to make them back away from Keitarō so that he could concentrate on what his grandmother wanted him to focus on. Worse, after Naru-sama and the others got out of hospital, Mizote and her friends practically declared open season on the girls of the Hinata-sō outside Shinobu-sama: Verbal threats to put them back into the hospital if they "stepped out of line" concerning Keitarō, tongue-lashings that were meant to hurt them emotionally every which way possible, making sure Keitarō always remained out of their reach…!

This was the worst possible situation concerning Keitarō's future in Hina's eyes — where he found a woman far stronger than Naru-sama to make him turn his back on his quest for the "promise girl" — taken to the ugliest extreme.

And now…

"How the hell do we take on T'aeja and the tōshi?!" one of the younger enforcers asked as he gazed on his leader. He was a second-generation Zainichi Korean; of the whole group, he intrinsically understood what real danger a being like Urashima Taeko could present. "The former's a freakin' _**tokkaebi**_! Rumour has it she's already warded the Hinata-sō against intrusion; she also basically delivered a slap in the face to Kaolla-himesama's relatives in Molmol by sending all her stuff back there with the Avalonians' help!"

The leader winced on hearing that. The Molmolites may not enjoy any sort of diplomatic recognition with the government in Tōkyō, but the enforcers were sympathetic to the residents of the island nation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Being treated like unwanted cousins of their "countrymen" in the Republic of the Marshall Islands by the Americans after the Greater East Asia War — to say anything of whatever radiation poisoning they suffered thanks to the atomic bomb tests on nearby Bikini Atoll in the 1940s and 1950s — were reasons enough to want to have nothing to do with anything imposed by the idiots in Washington. If Molmol succeeded in gaining some advantage over the Americans — which was Kaolla-himesama's ultimate goal when she came here to study computer and robotics technology — to force them to recognize the island as an independent kingdom, it would be a good thing in the long term; it was about time those arrogant Yankees were made to eat some humble pie. But now…!

"We have to make sure she doesn't get any legal recognition by the government," the enforcers' leader declared. "She's the damned _**Destroyer of Kyōto**_, for Heaven's sake! There's no way in hell that the Kantō Magical Association would want anything to do with her!" He sighed. "All we can hope to do is persuade Kaolla-himesama's fiancé to find a way to put out the warning about T'aeja to the International Conference of Magical Communities. Once that's done, the idiots in Mahora will HAVE to act!"

"What about the tōshi?" another man asked. "She's a Kyoshō alumnus. The guy who's in charge of that school now will sense her out sooner or later. Once he finds out what happened to her, the fighters of that school will do anything to hurt the Boss-Lady!"

"We have to…!"

A knock echoed from the doorway of the small apartment where the enforcers were meeting. The Korean enforcer answered the door…and then opened it all the way to allow two men possessing the mixed Micronesian and Indian features marking them as natives of Molmol inside. "We apologize for disturbing you and your friends, Mister Ichinosei," the elder of the two said with a polite bow.

The enforcers' leader bowed in return. "As you are Kaolla-himesama's friends here in Hinata City, a visit from you is always welcome, Janta-san."

With that, the newcomers were allowed to take seats on the floor and tea was served. "How is Kaolla-himesama?" the Korean enforcer asked. "We haven't heard anything about here since your people had her taken back to Molmol City."

A sigh. "The Princess is slowly recovering," Janta Jan — he was the leader of the small group of Molmolite observers based in Hinata — replied. "The energy weapon the alien assassin used on her unleashes a similar effect to what most magicals call the Cruciatus Curse, the torture curse that is outlawed across most of Earth. Because the Princess has magical blood in her, a special potion is being prepared by the Royal Wizard to help fully repair the damage to her nervous system. We hope she'll be back on her feet and ready to return to Japan within two to three weeks." As the enforcers breathed out in relief on hearing that their employer's young foreign guest would recover from what Mizote's brother did, Janta added, "Sadly, it appears that the government of Hinata City is trying to block any possible return to Japan by the Princess Kaolla."

"We know that," the enforcers' leader, Ichinosei Hikaru, stated with a scowl. "We're trying to lean down on the mayor's people to reverse any attempts at having Kaolla-himesama declared _persona non grata_." As Janta and his companion snarled at that show of disrespect to their beloved princess, the leader of Hina's enforcers added, "But we've got a bigger problem on our hands now. Two of them in fact. I think you know what they are."

"Yes. The Destroyer of Kyōto and a reborn warrior from the Three Kingdoms age of China; a 'tōshi,' you call them here." Janta scowled before he sipped his tea. "We've heard of what the Princess' beloved big brother did when he somehow persuaded the alien women to clone his body to allow the Destroyer to become his sister Taeko. We've also heard that this tōshi woman is now formally engaged to marry Lord Keitarō." As the enforcers all screamed out in shock on hearing that, Janta jerked. "What?! What is it?!"

"How could Keitarō-sama be ENGAGED to the Dō woman?!" Ichinosei demanded.

"We believe it's because of this _marei'cha_ psionic bonding these Avalonians can perform with each other," Janta's company, Jerna Nat, explained. "When Lord Keitarō allowed his DNA to be cloned to give the Destroyer a human body at last, she allowed her own blood to be transfused back to him. That makes him a 'Terran-adopted Avalonian' as the alien women term such a person. He now has the same powers any Avalonian does; most likely, the Saviour of Earth…" — the enforcers knew that term was meant to represent Moroboshi Ataru — "…might have undergone the same thing with one of his new sisters while he was a guest of the Noukiites. Thus, when the Dō woman was allowed to become an Avalonian, the conditions were right for this _marei'cha_ bond to form."

The enforcers looked stunned. They knew the truth about what Dō Karumi tried to do when she dated Urashima Kyōsuke forty years ago; Hina had told them that. She also told them about what she had done to remove the bitch from Kyōsuke's life; trapping her behind blood ki wards in the tunnels under the Hinata-sō until she died. That the tokkaebi in the Yōkatana had somehow manipulated poor Keitarō to go down and help the tōshi — who was still ALIVE even after FORTY YEARS! — free herself from what Hina did in 1970 was obvious when older people across Hinata began celebrating the return of Dō Karumi as another blow against the "selfish old hag" that had nearly destroyed the hot springs town by closing down the Hinata-sō.

To believe that her becoming an Avalonian allowed the Dō bitch to do THAT…!

"Hina-sama is going to go insane over that, Aniki!" the second-in-command of the enforcers snarled as he glared at Ichinosei. "Actually allowing Dō to become her _**granddaughter-in-law**_?! What about the promise to Naru-sama?!"

Both Molmolites perked. "What promise?!" Janta demanded.

Ichinosei blinked before he sighed. "That's right, you don't know," he then breathed out as he gave them an apologetic nod. "When he was a child, Keitarō-sama was a playmate of Naru-sama's; she was staying at the Hinata-sō to recover from leukaemia. During that time, they made a vow that if they found a way to enter Tōkyō University, they would make a life for themselves together. Hina-sama has always seen that as a formal engagement between Keitarō-sama and Naru-sama."

The visitors were stunned by those words. "I see…" Janta breathed out. "Well, if the Lady Hina desires that her grandson marry the Lady Naru, we can't object to that." He then chuckled. "I must admit, there are some on Molmol who would gladly see the Princess Kaolla marry Lord Keitarō when she comes of age!" As the enforcers all laughed on hearing that, Janta sighed. "Still, there is the vow His Majesty made to the Princess Kaolla after the horrible deaths of her parents. That takes precedent." He sighed. "So, what will you do?"

"Right now, we just don't know," the enforcers' second-in-command stated with a shrug. "We just got word that Hina-sama suffered a horrible stroke yesterday afternoon while she was enjoying her vacation in the town of Spa in Belgium." He bowed his eyes as the Molmolites both gaped in horror on hearing that. "She may not make it."

"That's terrible!" Janta breathed out before he closed his eyes for a moment, and then he nodded. "Let me contact His Majesty." As the enforcers all gaped at him, Janta smiled. "The Royal Hospital in Molmol City has the best medical technology that money can buy. We also have magical healers who are quite knowledgeable in helping normal people overcome grave illnesses. It's clearly obvious that your employer has magical genes in her somewhere; how else could Lord Keitarō endure playing with the Princess and the Ladies Naru and Motoko like he's done over the last year?" As the former Yakuza kobun all nodded in understanding — indeed, they had been impressed by Keitarō's invincibility…though all of them would not call what he had been doing with Kaolla, Naru and Motoko "playing" — Janta moved to finish his tea. "If we can get people to Lady Hina right away and help her regain enough strength to travel, we can move her from Belgium to the Royal Hospital. Once she's healed, we can then combine forces to deal with the Destroyer of Kyōto and this Dō woman."

Jaws dropped, and then Ichinosei grinned as he offered his hand to Janta. "If you do that for Hina-sama, we will all be grateful to you, Janta-san!"

The Molmolite gladly gripped the other man's hand…

* * *

Pararakelse International Airport, that moment (local time: Thursday 18 February, ninety minutes after supper)…

"So how does it feel to be out of an office?"

"It feels wonderful!" Elaine Kiritimati stated with a smile as she gazed in amusement at her best friend and new shift supervisor. Like many of the other Avalonian-Pararakelsians whose existence had been confirmed a day before, she had the dusky skin of a Polynesian, though she also had waist-length wavy blonde-brown hair … now tied in a bun at the top of her head — and green eyes that indicated some Caucasian in her ancestry.

Gazing on the lovely woman — who was now dressed in the green work uniform of an officer of the United States Border Patrol — the magical shift supervisor at the airport could only grin. Originally a clerk who worked with the Commonwealth Department of State, Elaine — along with two dozen other Avalonian-Pararakelsians who wanted a chance to contribute as much as they could to their adopted homeland — had been snapped up by John Fitzpatrick to become auxiliary law enforcement agents with the Pararakelse Commonwealth Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Given that all of them were touch telepaths and empaths who could detect possible threats at multiple-kilometre range, the senior officers of the PCP, FBI and CBP on Pararakelse — who were in on the secret of magicals; Americans weren't as uptight about enforcing the Statute of Secrecy as their counterparts in Europe — were happy to welcome the new metahuman blood amongst them. Once training programmes — which would probably be modified to take advantage of Avalonian telepathy to cut down on costs and time in the classroom and out in the field — were devised with input from the Department of Magic, people like Elaine could be welcomed as full-time law enforcement agents serving their homeland within a year.

In the eyes of the CBP evening shift supervisor for the Pararakelse Sector, Watch Commander Sandra Jackson, that was more than welcome news. The dozen magical CBP agents assigned to Pararakelse International Airport didn't face some of the ugly problems their brother and sister agents elsewhere encountered…but being the only magical element of America's largest law enforcement agency helping crew a lonely station in the middle of the Pacific did generate potential problems that needed to be tackled smartly and directly to ensure no American ever came to harm when it could have been stopped. Any border access point that opened into American territory — even in any of the unincorporated territories such as Pararakelse, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa — was a potential avenue of attack for terrorists. While the threat of magical dark lords in the Pacific basin was much smaller than in Europe, there was the chance that some clown like that Voldemort bastard that had nearly burned Britain to the ground in the 1970s and the mid-1990s could link with normal friends and cause huge headaches on both sides of the secrecy divide.

On Pararakelse, there was also the issue of Molmol. Like many here, Sandra — an African-American from Macon in Georgia, who graduated from Salem ten years ago and gone through the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centre in Glynco a year later — often found herself wishing that the people of Molmol would finally wake up to Reality and stop acting like selfish, arrogant idiots…but wishing that seemed like wishing the Moon was blue at times; it wouldn't happen anytime soon. Look what happened earlier in the day: Some damned fool "royal herald" just apparated himself into John Fitzpatrick's office without bothering to present himself to CBP and request permission to enter American territory! If it hadn't been for the new Elder Mother of the Avalonians on Pararakelse, Joanna Teraina, Ganda Gan would be still making an ass of himself, wasting John's time and causing…

"It's done!"

Elaine and Sandra looked over as Bethany Mason walked into the reception hall where all magicals had to report to CBP before entering or leaving the island commonwealth. A white Avalonian-American with curly flame-red hair cropped at mid-neck, freckles and turquoise eyes behind reading glasses who had been created to act as a native of Los Angeles, she was the technical genius among the Space Angels on Pararakelse. As soon as the Noukiites dealt with the Niphentaxian in charge of the observation post here, Bethany arranged to have equipment sent from the bioroid factory so she could erect a sensor net that could sniff out anything magical or mundane that was trying to enter Pararakelse without following proper legal procedures. After Ganda had his ass kicked back to Molmol by Joanna, John Fitzpatrick gave the Avalonians the go-ahead to also install a special magical transportation deflector system that could snare anyone trying to portkey or apparate to Pararakelse, routing them right to the waiting hands of the CBP officers at the airport. John's many requests to the Department of Magic about installing such a system before had always been rejected by the bean-counters in Washington; despite the issues with the Molmolites, Pararakelse wasn't seen as an attractive target for a potential attack by America's wide galaxy of potential enemies.

The Avalonians had done that in _hours_…and did it _**free of charge**_!

"Have you done a full cycle test?" Elaine then asked.

The younger-looking Avalonian-American — Bethany had been moulded to look like a girl fresh out of high school when she had been born ten years ago — nodded. "There's already been three attempts by someone to apparate into the Commonwealth since I got the transmitter stations set up," she said. "Since I hadn't got the re-routing protocols put into the system installed at the time, I had the shields set up to have them return to their place of origin." A smirk. "All from Molmol City."

Sandra moaned as Elaine rolled her eyes. "Lyna's Soul! What's the matter with those people?!" the latter demanded as she moved to key her dataPADD into the main control system for the deflector system at Bethany's apartment, located near the south end of Pararakelse City. "Don't they understand that people won't respect them if they don't acknowledge that other nations and societies have their own laws?!"

"Joanna did ask if I can find some way to do a deep sensor scan of Molmol," Bethany then noted. "I'm surprised Thoughtmaster Fitzpatrick's co-workers didn't do some sort of detailed magical scan of Molmol beforehand. The island _was_ under American control when it was part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands before 1986."

"Lack of money," Sandra said as she relaxed at her desk.

"The bane of all good government officers," Elaine noted with a sensual roll of her sultry evergreen eyes.

Seeing THAT made Sandra's heart flip-flop. She had known Elaine for five years, ever since the Georgia native was first assigned to Pararakelse. The two had met in the city market when they were out shopping. The two soon became the best of friends. Of course, both had their secrets — Sandra was compelled by the Statute of Secrecy to keep quiet about her magic while Elaine was compelled by the loyalty locks in her DNA to not reveal her alien origins — from each other, but their friendship evolved to the point where they gladly spent most of their spare time together doing girl things such as shopping, relaxing on the beach enjoying the sun or hitting the nightclubs. Sandra knew now that Elaine had learned a lot more about her than she had about the Avalonian; the latter had — once the Noukiites came to town and took the bitch that had been Elaine's mistress into custody for a trip to their version of Rura Penthe — collapsed into a heap of tears and moaned apologies to her friend for constantly violating her privacy like she had done over the years. Sandra automatically forgave her, especially when the interrogator who had come with the Noukiite Marines to Pararakelse — a native of a planet named Zephyrus, blessed with telepathic powers of his own — revealed to her the dozen or so times Elaine's mistress had _**raped**_ her to make sure she didn't become an "uppity robot" and contemplate trying to defy the "will of the Living Goddess."

Hearing that — and experiencing Elaine's tsunami of guilt over her being forced to spy on Sandra with her telepathy thanks to the interrogator, who was also an empath of considerable power — had so enraged the CBP officer that she discovered within herself that special type of hate that allowed any European-style wand-witch/wizard to unleash the Cruciatus.

Learning THAT about herself instantly drove Sandra to tears…though the lieutenant in charge of the Noukiites now on Pararakelse, Eyu-Kyi Chusu-Sekna, was quick to remind her of her oaths to the Constitution. "Lady Gatekeeper Sandra, do not be surprised that you can muster such hate!" he admonished her after she had staggered into her apartment kitchen to weep at the idea of discovering that she had within herself the power to commit such evil. "All living, feeling beings feel that type of hate when they discover the levels of true evil like what the Lady Elaine had been enslaved to since her birth. It is a natural outcome of having such feelings in the first place! But you have sworn oaths to the basic laws of your land to serve it as a frontier guardsman protecting your people! Do not allow the witch who hurt Lady Elaine to win by forcing you to _betray_ those oaths! She's not worth it! Besides…" — here, Sekna grinned savagely — "…once the good wardens at Hichkyech'eng get their hands on her, they'll turn her into an _**apostate**_. To any of her useless kind, being made to believe in NOTHING is seen as a fate worse than death!"

"Hey!"

Sandra gasped on feeling Elaine tap her on the forehead, and then she chuckled in embarrassment. "Sorry! My mind drifted!" she said, waving her hand in reassurance.

The other woman hummed. "I'm flattered by your interest in me."

That made the older CBP officer nearly choke on her tongue. "Elaine!" she screeched before looking around…to see that Bethany had left. "Damn it, girl…!"

Elaine snickered. "Sandra, I've been attracted to you since we first met!" she stated as she sat at her desk. "I know you're a lesbian deep down! Remember, I'm bisexual…and bonding with another woman when the _marei'cha_ urge comes is seen as normal where I come from." She smiled. "Who knows! Maybe it'll happen with you!"

"Elaine, I don't want to be accused of anything improper…!"

"Don't you magicals believe a soul-bond is sacred?"

That made the Macon native gape. "Of course we do! But still…!"

"That's what will happen if we become _marei'cha_," Elaine advised. "Bonded soul-to-soul for the rest of our lives. Believe me, being bonded to you is…!"

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

Instantly, Elaine was tapping away on her dataPADD, calling up a holographic projection of Pararakelse Island and the neighbouring islets that composed the physical territory of the commonwealth. As Sandra walked over to stand behind her friend to watch what was happening, Elaine tapped controls to backtrack the incoming source of magical apparition energy now approaching the island from the west…where Molmol was located. A second later, a window appeared over the holographic map. "From the Royal Palace in Molmol City," Elaine reported. "No doubt, the 'royal herald' again."

"Can you send him back?" Sandra asked.

A confidant smirk answered her. "Done."

She tapped a control. On the map, the icon — which had been frozen some distance from Namo Island, the outcropping of land located northwest of Pararakelse that partially masked West Bay and the commonwealth's capital from the open waters of the Pacific — faded back in the direction of Molmol. "Returned to sender!" the young auxiliary CBP officer declared as she reached up with her free hand to grasp one of Sandra's hand and hold it close to her. "Call and ask first, Mister Gan…!"

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

"Damn! Persistent bunch, aren't they?!" Sandra demanded.

"Wait! This one's coming from somewhere else on Molmol!"

That made the watch commander blink. "Where exactly?!"

"Just a second," Elaine said as she tapped controls.

A new window then appeared over the map. "From the village of Kasi?" Sandra read. "Odd! All people who portkey or apparate in and out of Molmol always come and go from Molmol City itself!" At Elaine's curious look, the watch commander added, "Their own 'royal ministry of magic' forces them to do that so they can control who comes and goes."

"_De'ne_!" Elaine snarled the most common Sagussan profanity with a shake of the head before she gazed on her friend. "What do you want to do?"

Sandra hummed as she drew out her wand. "Let them come here. This is weird."

"Right."

Controls were tapped. A moment later, a swirling whirlpool of matter that heralded someone apparating into a particular space appeared over the floor ahead of the CBP officers' desks, accompanied by the cracking sound of displaced air that accompanied this type of magical teleportation. Within a second, the whirlpool melted into two people, dressed in the standard light-weight clothing worn by natives of Molmol Island year-round. One was a boy of eighteen, dressed in a plain pair of baggy trousers and a form-fitting shirt that was standard dress for village men; he had an empty travelling bag slung over his shoulder. His companion was an exceptionally beautiful woman appearing to be in her late teens, dressed in the sports bra-like top, ankle-length skirt and sari-like shawl draped over her head that was standard dress for village women…though she also possessed a pair of beautiful jewel-crested bracelets around her wrists and a cloth neck choker topped with a beautiful ruby. Gazing on the newcomers, Sandra was surprised. She had seen pictures of Molmolites before, but neither of these two were dressed as…

A shocked gasp of breath made her spin around to stare at a white-faced, wide-eyed Elaine. "Hey! What's wrong?!" she demanded as she moved to comfort her friend.

A light smile touched the face of the Molmolite woman. "Actually, Colonel, I can explain that," she stated in perfect American English before she bowed her head politely to Elaine. "_Neka do'a hagh wae ronghki wae joghza va_."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"_Neka do'a hagh wae ronghki wae joghza va_," Elaine answered after rising to bow her head to the other woman before she stared wide-eyed at her. "Sister, how in Lyna's name did you get to be in _**Molmol**_ of all places?!" she demanded.

The newcomer giggled as Sandra's jaw hit the deck on hearing her co-worker address the other woman as "sister"…which meant that the Molmolite woman was actually an _**Avalonian**_! "My sisters and I were assistant observers assigned to what became one of the Lost Posts, I'm afraid," she explained before bowing her head to the senior CBP officer. "Colonel, I'm Tirtha Sapta of the village of Kasi on the island of Molmol in the Republic of the Marshall Islands." Her dark eyes twinkled. "I am the Elder Mother of the Avalonians of Molmol."

Sandra just remained frozen in place as she gaped in shock at something she had been told by the Noukiites was an impossibility: An _**Avalonian-Molmolite**_! As Elaine beamed on knowing now that a lost village of sisters was alive and well, she then sensed a flash of annoyance from Tirtha. A second later, a ki mallet appeared in her hand. Before the boy who had transported Tirtha from Molmol could sense the danger, the Avalonian-Molmolite clocked him on the head, nearly driving him to his knees. "Does the concept of MANNERS mean anything to you?!" she demanded as she seemed to loom like an angry goddess over him.

He groaned. "Miss Tirtha! Why should I bow to an AMERICAN?!" he pleaded.

"No nookie."

A gargled intake of breath escaped him as he froze in place, staring in horror at his companion. A second later, he was bowing apologetically to Sandra, which nearly made the Georgia native fall over in laughter. "Pleaseexcusemeformy…!"

_WHOMP!_

Another mallet strike to the head, which drove him into the floor. "Speak CLEARLY!" Tirtha snarled. "The colonel can't hear that sort of noise from you! You know how to speak English, don't you?! Speak it clearly like I taught you!"

He painfully moaned out, "Yes, Miss Tirtha…!"

It was too much for Sandra; she fell over laughing…

* * *

The office of the Governor of Pararakelse, a half-hour later…

"'Lost Post?'"

"Yes, Madame Governor," Tirtha stated as she sat back in her chair and sipped the coffee that had been prepared for her by Traya Namo's teenage daughter Nyamo, who was acting as hostess for the occasion. "It's a hazard for any space-faring species who dispatch observers to less-advanced worlds, especially ones that are frequently rocked by conflict as your planet was not so long ago. During the Second World War, every observer from Phentax Two who was in Europe, the former Soviet Union and northern Africa at the time — even in those parts that weren't conquered by the Nazis and their allies — all vanished without a trace. Also lost with them were all the non-templated Avalonian bioroid bodies that were always issued to them to allow assistant observers to be created for detailed intelligence gathering." She sighed. "I only pray to Lyna that none of them were templated and awoken before they disappeared."

"Agreed," Joanna Teraina whispered before sipping her own coffee.

Immediately, Corrine McMaster moved to comfort her. Attending this evening meeting between Tirtha and her host were Governor Namo's impromptu advisory committee on the Avalonians: Liaison Officer of the Department of Magic John Fitzpatrick, Commonwealth Secretary of Labour and Human Resources Dan Vendar, Commissioner of the Commonwealth Police Thomas Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Pararakelse Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigations Jean Sanderhausen, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Agent-in-Charge Oswald Patterson, Colonel Hank Mauser of the United States Marine Corps (the Liaison Officer of the Commander of United States Pacific Command to the Governor of Pararakelse) and Captain Anne Manra of the United States Army Reserve (the Commanding Officer of the locally-recruited "P" Company, 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry Regiment). Also joining them — atop Corrine, who was Joanna's employer — was Lieutenant Eyu-Kyi Chusu-Sekna of Her Imperial Majesty's Marines of the Dominion of Noukiios, Bethany Mason (as Joanna's number two) and Tirtha's escort from Molmol, Rama Mela. Despite the young man's discomfort at being so close to so many Americans — he had glared lethal daggers at Hank Mauser and Anne Manra when he saw the two officers in their combat uniforms, earning him a ki mallet strike from Tirtha in response — he was now being quiet; Bethany brought some chocolate with her, which was seen as a delicacy amongst Molmolites and he was savouring every bite of the very big bar of Hershey's the pretty white girl had given him.

"Agreed," Governor Namo said before sipping her coffee. "So how did you and your sisters come to be on Molmol, Miss Sapta? And what of your master or mistress?"

"My mother — who was legally my mistress back on Phentax Two — died in the same accident that claimed the life of the late king of Molmol and his wife," Tirtha stated. "I realize that the rules of diplomatic protocol forbid your people from addressing the leaders of my adopted homeland by the titles they've chosen for themselves since the government of the United States doesn't recognize Molmol as an independent nation-state, but my adopted countrymen look upon Americans — especially their leaders — as people who have no right to dictate to them, much less the rest of the world. If you recall Molmolite history from World War Two, you'll understand why."

"That's understandable, ma'am," Colonel Mauser stated. "Molmol was isolated by the Navy when we moved in on Tarawa to knock it out, keeping it cut off from resupply from Japan. That caused starvation amongst the local population since the commander of the Imperial Japanese forces on the island at the time had to make sure his own troops were fed first. No one's ever apologized for that. I doubt people these days would care."

"Agreed," Captain Manra said, nodding.

Rama glared at them before he saw Bethany move to take the chocolate away, and then he shrunk back on himself. The women in the room all grinned on seeing that. "You got him really well-trained," Sanderhausen whispered to the elder mother of the Avalonians on Molmol. "Do you really…?"

"Since almost all of us have bonded with each other, the nesting urge has come over us to start having children," Tirtha explained with an amused twinkle of her dark eyes, that making all the women in the room laugh as they exchanged understanding looks. "Despite the effects of the ebony meson radiation poisoning from the deposits we discovered buried in the volcanic hills near our village, they are nice people deep down. Yes, it's been hard to make them understand they're not the kings of the world — look at how Princess Kaolla's behaved around her former landlord at the Hinata House in Japan — but they are quite nice and understanding once you finally get their attention."

"Ebony meson, eh?" John Fitzpatrick groaned out. "Damn! It would have to be _that_!"

"How bad is it?" Governor Namo asked.

"It's totally self-sustaining. Since we've not been able to detect where the meson came from, I can't say whether or not Major Raeburn could use her Power Jewel to de-crystalize it to ruby meson," Tirtha stated. "My sisters and I weren't affected by it since we were born with diamond meson in the regenerative enzymes in our bloodstream. Since the meson in our blood ultimately originated on Sagussa, the meson in the hills of Molmol can't influence us. Rama's ancestors — both the native islanders and the settlers from India who arrived two centuries ago — weren't so protected. Still, it has done wonderful things to them: Enhanced their immunity to all sorts of diseases, not to mention their general health. It's also allowed the magical population of the island to explode to take in nearly half the total population." To John. "I'd believe this would be seen as a 'mixed population' situation under your department's rules, Thoughtmaster."

He nodded. "What does that mean, Thoughtmaster Fitzpatrick?" Joanna asked.

"It means, Joanna, that within the bounds of Molmol Island itself, the clauses of the Statute of Secrecy simply wouldn't apply on a person-by-person basis," Corrine answered on behalf of her friend. "It's like the situation we have with your people now. You're all telepaths. Trying to hide the magicals of the world is ultimately useless when it comes to your people, so I doubt the ICMC will bother to even try even if individual nations…"

"Such as Britain," John groaned out.

A tired nod twitched the archaeologist's head. "Yes, such as Britain!"

The others laughed; they had all heard Corrine's complaints about how socially backward British magical society was in comparison to what American magicals enjoyed. "So what does bring you here, Miss Sapta?" Thomas Grant — a former assistant chief of New York City's finest who accepted a job here six years ago to get over the mental agonies 9/11 and its aftermath caused him — then asked. "Just to get in contact with your sisters here on Pararakelse and elsewhere? Are any of you in danger living on Molmol?"

"Well, meeting up with our sisters and letting everyone know we're alive and well does have its many benefits, Commissioner Grant," Tirtha stated. "And no, we're really not in any sort of danger on Molmol. We all live in Kasi, which is an isolated village on the northern coast of the island. We all moved there after my mother died and those of us who worked in the Palace were dismissed from our positions by the Grand Chamberlain after the new King was crowned."

"Were you discovered?" Joanna asked.

A derisive snort escaped Tirtha. "No, sister. The truth of our existences has never been discovered by anyone on Molmol we couldn't trust with that type of secret," she stated as she wiggled the fingers in her right hand in emphasis. As Joanna nodded in understanding — Avalonians had gladly used telepathic memory-modification to protect themselves in the past, despite how loathsome actually doing that sort of thing was — the Avalonian-Molmolite added, "However, the Grand Chamberlain, Panda Gan — he's Ganda Gan's older brother — didn't like the fact that we were 'normal' in comparison to average Molmolites." Noting people's confused looks, she smirked. "Such as looking at the behaviour of my former ward while she's been living in Japan and being _**disgusted**_ at how immature she's become."

"You were Kaolla's nanny?" John wondered.

She nodded. "I was. When I worked at the Palace, I always encouraged her intelligence and creativity…but also tried to make her understand that there are certain things she couldn't do even if she was a princess. Believe me, the way she's treated Urashima Keitarō over the last year is something I would NEVER have allowed her to do!"

"They fired you because you scolded the little girl too much?" Captain Manra demanded.

"In essence, yes." Here, Tirtha sighed. "However, regardless of how upset I am with Kaolla, I still love her as if I had given birth to her myself. It was her mother's private request to me before she died: That my sisters and I would do all we could to raise Kaolla properly and correctly just in case she had to assume the throne." She closed her eyes. "Also…"

People tensed on seeing tears appear there. "Also what?" Joanna quietly asked.

Tirtha sniffed. "I'm afraid that if the King and his advisers — not to mention Kaolla's caregivers at the Royal Hospital, both magical and normal — don't bend and ask for help from our Noukiite friends or our sisters to help heal her wounds from that disruptor pistol, Joanna…" Another sniff before she blinked as Mauser handed her a handkerchief. "She'll die when she's next exposed to the Crimson Moon and is forced into an adult body."

People gaped at her as all the magicals in the room cringed…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) For those who don't remember, _Kidō Keisatsu Patlabor_ (literally "Mobile Police Patlabor;" _Patlabor_ is a portmanteau of "patrol labor") was an OVA, television and movie franchise created by the **Headgear** team (director Oshii Mamoru, writer Itō Kazunori, mecha designer Izubuchi Yutaka, character designer Takada Akemi, and manga artist Yūki Masami) in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Atop being something of a reunion for those who had once worked on the _Yatsura_ anime series (Oshii had directed the first seasons of the television series and the first two movies; Takada was the character designer and animation director for the television series, three of the movies and one OVA; plus many _Yatsura_ voice actors appeared throughout _Patlabor_, including several of the main characters), _Patlabor_ offered a very realistic view of the near future. Chief amongst that was the **labor**, large humanoid-like machines originally meant for construction work but later adopted for other uses such as military combat and police work (hence the term "patrol labor" that went into the series' name). Naturally, given the versatility of such machines, the Niphentaxians readily adopted the labor concept…which the Avalonians also use.

As an aside, the etymology of the word **labor** as used in _Patlabor_ is derived from the first fictional portrayal of humanoid robots, the 1921 play _R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)_ by Czech author **Karel Čapek** (1890-1938). When he devised the concept of what we would address today as either an **android** (male-form humanoid robot) or **gynoid** (female-form humanoid robot), he wanted to use the term _laboři_ (Czech for "labourers"). His brother, painter and writer **Josef Čapek** (1887-1945) suggested the term _roboti_, which is derived from the Czech term _robota_ ("serf labour"). Hence, the Headgear team decided to honour the Čapek brothers' contribution to science fiction — and more recently, science fact — by using the American English term "labor" for the robots depicted in their series.

2) Translations: **Faux pas** — Literally "false step" in French, this is the term applied to a socially awkward or tactless act, especially one that violates accepted social norms, standard customs, or the rules of etiquette; **Maskiróvka** — Effectively meaning "denial and deception," this is a Russian term which describes a particular type of information operation employed by an intelligence service that both blocks one's adversary access to accurate information regarding one's actions or intentions…and simultaneously convinces said adversary of the accuracy of false information regarding those actions and intentions; **Hime-sama** — Literally "princess" with the "-sama" suffix honorific, this is a term that is also used to address a woman of high social standing (such as a real royal princess, not to mention the matriarch of one's overall family or clan); **Taisa** — Navy captain/Army colonel/Air Force group captain (NATO rank code OF-5); **Pulgogi** — Literally "fire meat," this is the term used to apply to meat (usually beef) that is marinated before being cooked over an open flame; **Kamsahamnida** — Thank You; **Zainichi** — Literally "foreigner residing in Japan," this term is often applied to descendants of Korean labourers who were forced to work in Japan before the end of World War Two; **Kobun** — Literally "foster child," this is the name given to those who are adopted into a Yakuza clan by an **oyabun** ("foster father"), the head of the clan in question; **Aniki** — Slang way for a boy to address his elder brother; **Eyu** — Family name prefix indicating the person is one of the **Eyukhu** caste, who are traditionally the guardians, soldiers and police in Noukiite society; **Chusu** — Given name prefix indicating the person is the first-born son of a family; **Neka do'a hagh wae ronghki wae joghza va** — Literally "I wish you all peace, logic and harmony," this is the standard Sagussan/Avalonian greeting/farewell (_neka_ is the verb "to wish/desire," _wae_ is the conjunction "and," _do'a_ is the second-person pronoun "you" with the plural "'a" ending and _va_ is the first-person pronoun "I").

3) Intergalactic city names: **Onishuto** is the capital city of the planet **Uru** (the name was invented for use in _The Senior Year_); **Baran** is the capital city of the planet **Elle** (as noted in the first _Yatsura_ movie _Only You_); and **Zeiwanopolis** is the Terran English equivalent of the name of the capital city of the planet **Zeiwan** (which was introduced in the _TSY_ story "Darling's Other Girlfriend"). As an aside, the current name of Phentax Two's capital city — renamed six years before the start of the story from "New Hollywood" — is **Lumukyō**, named in honour of Lum.

4) I originally planned to introduce the **Yizibajohei** in _TSY_ but never got around to it. I later developed the race — whom I based on the Levramites from Jim Valentino's parody comic series _normalman_ from the mid-1980s — in the storyline _The Doctor Is In_ at the Anime Add-venture. As to the reason the other races of the local cluster are — for the most part — mortally terrified of them, that's because of an event 250 years ago known as the **Mother of All Fight Scenes** (the term "fight scene" comes from _normalman_, of course), which was unleashed on the planet Uru in retaliation for an attempted invasion via Tag Race of Yiziba by the Urusian Empire. This happened because the Urusian champion at the time, an ancestral relative of Lum's named **Redet Danu**, had been left behind on Yiziba when the Yizibajohei chased off the Urusian invaders after the local champion, the fifteenth **Rampage** (who could also fly), tagged her horns in over **_seven seconds_**…then was accused of CHEATING! Danu — who would later be gifted with metahuman powers and become the new **Tempest** — would get homesick and go visit her relatives on Uru…then wind up in a laboratory as the Empire's scientists tried to figure out a weakness in the Yizibajohei. Danu was soon rescued by Rampage — who had become her husband — and his friends…and in realizing what the Urusians tried to do to her, they unleashed a planet-wide fight scene that devastated Uru, instigated a famine that killed millions and so badly wrecked the common people's faith and trust in their leaders that, fifty years later, the **Union Revolution** was launched that eventually destroyed the Empire and replaced it with the modern military junta government calling itself the **United Tribes of Uru**.

Because of what the Yizibajohei did to Uru — tacked onto similar incidents with other planets — it became common practice amongst the peoples of the local cluster to NEVER speak the names "Yiziba" or "Yizibajohei" in public or private. Borrowing a theme from _Harry Potter_ when it came to how people looked on Voldemort, the planet Yiziba is known as either "**The Unspeakable Place**" or "**You Know Where**"…while the natives of that world are known as "**They Who Must Never Be Named**" or the "**You Know Whos**."

If you wish to learn more, you can also read my fanfics _The Saga of Coyote and the Tempest_ and _Manacled Dominatrix_.

5) _The Senior Year_ character notes:

**Moroboshi Nagaiwakai** first appeared in "Tag Race Mark Three." She was the most determined opponent standing against Lum's quest to marry Ataru throughout the series. In the universe of this story, I had her die of heartbreak when Ataru was ten; her husband **Moroboshi Kokeru** — who would have served as a kamikaze pilot in World War Two, but never get the chance to immolate himself in an attack on an American warship — committed suicide just after the birth of Ataru's father Muchi.

**Otako Meinyak** first appeared in "What Price For Love?" She is an Avalonian clone replica of the last governor of Phentax Twelve who was created to be a sort of "older sister" figure…then wound up in a cave far from the factory, placed in suspended animation. In the universe of this story, she was made the first President of the Provisional Republic of New Avalon; she served this role in the universe of _TSY_ also.

**Yumoa Reigi** first appeared in "Sakura's Class Reunion." He is the chief of operations for Toranoseishin Finances in Tomobiki and someone who did NOT approve of Lum's interest in Ataru whatsoever…though he couldn't really do much in the face of the determination of Ataru's mother to keep control of things in her house. He is an orphan and part-American by ancestry; he was adopted as a ward of Ataru's paternal uncle **Moroboshi Komeru**.

**Ōgi ot'ndai-Zkuhsbagh** first appeared in "What Price For Love?" A peer of Lum's, he was rescued by her when he was a boy of six after being nearly killed by a monster in the Terrible Swamps of Uru near Lum's family home. He founded the **Church of Lum** as a result of that, eventually coming to disgust Lum with the slavish behaviour of his people when it came to her, her "**Holy Apostles**" (Mendō and the Stormtroopers), the "**Holy Company**" (Oyuki, Benten, Sakura, Cherry and Ryūnosuke), the "**Sinful Doubters**" (Ran and Shinobu)…and most of all, the "**Great Evil**" (Ataru). The destruction of the Niphentaxians' military abilities became an early goal of the Sagussans in the "Great Father Ataru" story arc of _TSY_…and was the secondary goal of the liberation of the Avalonians that happened at the start of this story.

6) A note about how Hiromi addresses the rank of **Matthew Calbraith Perry** (1794-1858) of the United States Navy; he was the man who, as noted here, was responsible for forcibly opening Japan to outside trade in 1853. At the time he commanded the squadron that sailed into Edo Bay (today known as **Tōkyō Bay**), he was officially ranked as a captain. However, he had been _appointed_ to the position of **Commodore** in 1840 by the Secretary of the Navy. At that time, the United States Navy didn't have active officer ranks higher than captain. The title of Commodore was seen as a special appointment given to officers who commanded a squadron of ships; administratively, those appointed to this position would revert back to the rank of captain once their time as squadron commander came to an end…though the person who received the title "Commodore" was allowed to be addressed as such for the rest of his life. As the Imperial Japanese Navy did NOT have an equivalent rank to the present version of the rank of commodore in the United States Navy — **Rear Admiral (Lower Half)** (short form **RDML**) (NATO rank code OF-6) — Hiromi addressed Perry by his proper rank.

7) The **Thugs** are minor characters who have appeared from time to time in the _Love Hina_ manga. Their back story was never explained there, so I gave them one here.

As an aside, the story of the **Kantō Sagara-kai** (literally "Kantō Sagara Association," though normally translated as "Kantō Sagara Alliance") and their leader **Hōjō Akira** is directly taken from one of my favourite manga series, _Sanctuary_, released from 1990-95 by the team of writer **Fumimura Shō** (AKA **Buronson**, the man who also created _Hokuto no Ken_ ["Fist of the North Star"]) and artist **Ikegami Ryōichi** (who also did the art on such series as _Crying Freeman_ and _Mai the Psychic Girl_). I did one change to the _Sanctuary_ storyline, which runs parallel to what I did for the _Love Hina_ storyline for this story. In the manga, Akira and his best friend **Asami Chiaki** were survivors of the Killing Fields of Cambodia in the mid-1970s; _Sanctuary_ was set in the mid-1990s. To fit into the storyline of _Phoenix From the Ashes_, I moved the _Sanctuary_ storyline up to match it; thus, I made Akira and Chiaki survivors of the **Rwandan Genocide** of 1994.

Also, the **Tōnihon Dōmon-kai** (translated as "Eastern Japan Dōmon Association") was one of the Sagara-kai's rival Yakuza clans in Kantō. The group was first mentioned in the manga story "Enemies" (manga episode #31) and effectively rendered impotent thanks to the death of their oyabun **Kawazu Seisuke** in "The Ties That Bind" (manga episode #40).

8) Notes on United States federal agencies and groups mentioned here:

The **United States Border Patrol** (**USBP**) is a federal law enforcement agency that enforces all legislation and regulations for the admission of foreign-born persons (aliens) to the United States as codified in the Immigration and Nationality Act. It is — as noted above — an agency within the **U.S. Customs and Border Protection** (**CBP**), a component of the **Department of Homeland Security** (**DHS**). By sheer numbers alone, the USBP has more sworn law enforcement officers than any other group, even the Federal Bureau of Investigations; at last count, there are 21,444 border patrol agents working for the USBP (in comparison, the FBI has 13,913 sworn special agents as of 2012). Members of the USBP and many other federal law enforcement agencies do their basic training at the **Federal Law Enforcement Training Centre** (**FLETC**), which is located in **Glynco** (short for "Glynn County"), a former United States Navy naval air station on the Atlantic coast of Georgia 75 kilometres west of south from Savannah; of course, the FBI have their own academy at **Marine Corps Base Quantico** in Virginia 35 kilometres southwest of Washington.

**United States Pacific Command** (**USPACOM**) is one of the nine **Unified Combatant Commands** (**UCCs**) that operationally control all military fighting forces of the United States regardless of branch of service. USPACOM is one of the UCCs that is in charge of a geographic **area of responsibility** (**AOR**); in the case of this formation, the commander of USPACOM is responsible for the entire Pacific Ocean basin save for waters close to North and South America, plus all operations in Asia as far west as India (except Russia) as well as Australia and Antarctica. USPACOM headquarters is located at **Marine Corps Camp H.M. Smith** on O'ahu in Hawai'i, just northeast of Pearl Harbour about seven kilometres north-northwest of Honolulu. The commander of USPACOM is always a four-star admiral of the United States Navy given the origins of the command as an extension of the **United States Pacific Fleet** (**PACFLT**); from the formation of USPACOM in 1947 to 1958, the commanders of USPACOM and PACFLT was dual-hatted in the same person.

9) Police rank insignia in the United States is often derived from what is used by the armed forces of the nation. A USBP **Watch Commander** wears the silver oak leaf insignia of an Army/Air Force/Marine Corps lieutenant colonel or Navy/Coast Guard commander. An **Assistant Chief** in the **New York City Police Department** (**NYPD**) wears two gold stars similar to the rank insignia of an Army/Air Force/Marine Corps major general or Navy/Coast Guard rear admiral (upper half). Note that in this story, the **Pararakelse Commonwealth Police** (**PCP**) would have similar rank insignia to the NYPD; a **Commissioner** would wear four gold stars similar to the rank insignia of an Army/Air Force/Marine general or Navy/Coast Guard admiral.

10) The concept of a European wand witch/wizard learning how to hate enough to unleash the **Cruciatus Curse** is taken from the fanfic story _White Knight, Grey Queen_ by **Jeconais**, one of the authors who has his stories at the Fanfic Authors website. This story — which was the first _Harry Potter_ fanfic I read that portrayed **Pansy Parkinson** in a very positive light — is one of my favourite fanfics; it later served as an inspiration for my own _Icemaidens_ stories. Be advised that you will have to register at that website before reading some of the stories there.


	7. Kaolla's Nanny Scolds the Princess

Hinata, the Wafū Chabō Hinata, two hours after supper…

"So what's the prognosis?" Haruka asked.

"Not good at all," her uncle/adopted brother Mashiro answered from the family home in Hayama. "They were able to stabilize her, but Okā-chan is still listed in serious condition. The doctors don't know when she'll be able to be moved out of Spa." A sigh escaped him. "I knew she wasn't feeling good at all when she finally went off on her retirement vacation, but to believe it became THIS bad…"

The tea shop matron breathed out. _Because Obā-chan played around with things she shouldn't have when she was a stupid teenager and trapped an_ **innocent woman** _under_ **blood ki wards** _of all things for_ **forty damned years**_! And she did that to make sure Ō'oji-chan couldn't marry the woman he was falling in love with, which broke his heart and ultimately killed him!_ she mentally answered, though she couldn't find it in herself to yell that out to Mashiro. Much that she did like Keitarō's father as a person, he was shockingly naïve about a lot of things…

No.

Urashima Mashiro was a simple man at heart. He had a good work ethic — one didn't build his own family candy store out of nothing without being willing to work hard to make it real and successful — and had done his best to help raise his son and adopted daughter properly, but he didn't care too much for the more esoteric things in life that his mother had always been interested herself in. That was the reason he had backed away from having anything to do with the Hinata-sō — with all the history and legends surrounding the hot springs hotel — when Hina tried to get him to take over as manager before he married his wife. While Hina had been disappointed at her son's decision, she had respected it in the long term, even loaning him some money to purchase the property in Hayama that would eventually be the site of the Urashima Candy Shoppe. He paid all the money back but had pretty much reclused himself from the rest of the family since that time. So hitting him with the underlying truth of what had really happened to his mother the day before wouldn't really hit home with him…or possibly worse, make him get upset at all the wrong things. Especially trying to explain the whole story behind the tōshi who had been trapped by Hina in the tunnels under the Hinata-sō for forty years — who might have been Mashiro's AUNT! — and how she would very soon become his _daughter-in-law_…!

"Haruka?"

She jolted, and then sighed. "Sorry. My mind was drifting."

A chuckle answered her. "Understandable, especially with the news of these Avalonians that were living in Hinata while they were enslaved to those disgusting Niphentaxians. I saw in today's _Kanagawa Shimbun_ that they're all moving into the Hinata-sō. Did Keitarō offer them a place to stay? Are they all going to be able to fit in there?"

Haruka smirked. "Yeah, he did. He's getting their help to knock in new rooms and cabins on the grounds so they could all fit in and feel right at home here."

"How'd he meet them?"

"Two weeks ago, he saved the life of one of them from a collision on the Hinata-dōri. She became very good friends with him."

He hummed. "Well, that's a damned good first impression to make!"

She laughed. "Yeah, that's true. The girls here at the dorm freaked out when she walked him home since he hurt his back saving her from breaking her neck. Toshiko — that's the name of the first one of them he met, Mizote Toshiko — wouldn't put up to their normal crap and put Naru-chan, Motoko-chan and Su-chan into the hospital."

He cackled with typical male delight at his son getting close to such unbelievably sexy women. While he hadn't really done anything about his son being made the manager of the Hinata-sō in the wake of it being transformed from a hotel to an all-girls dorm house, he had been told about the residents who had been there by his mother. After hearing some of the stories of how people like Naru, Motoko and Kaolla had treated Keitarō from Haruka, he found himself hoping that some other girl would come along to help his son stand up to such abusive women…though he hadn't actually done anything to try to find such a girl for his son himself. "Oh?!" he trilled. "So he's dating these girls now?! That's good!"

She breathed out, "He's engaged to marry one of them."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"**_HE'S GETTING MARRIED?!_**" Mashiro cried out.

Haruka yelped…and then she mentally kicked herself for letting THAT loose so suddenly on the man. She then tensed on hearing running footsteps in the background. A second later, the voice of Mashiro's wife cut in, "Haruka! What's this about Keitarō getting _**married**_ to one of these aliens?! I thought he was still intent on finding this promise girl of his!"

"**_WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT…?!_**"

Haruka winced. _And Kanako just got clued in! Joy!_ she moaned to herself. "Yeah, it's true, Nanako-san," she said before quickly deciding on the best way to break this to her relatives. _Well, let's try this_, she breathed out. "Turns out that Keitarō knows this tōshi; she's a Kyoshō grad his age." Ignoring the sucked-in breaths from her relatives — which told her they were all leaning in to listen to her voice over the receiver — she added, "She got into a very bad accident yesterday here in town. The Avalonians got to her before she died, then after one of their healers examined her, they concluded there was no choice but to clone a body for her and do a soul-swap. It's the same thing that Moroboshi Ataru had to do to allow his sisters to get out of his head finally while he was off in space with the Noukiites. At the same time, the Avalonians in town discovered a tsukumogami in the dorm; it was a fireplace poker that's been in the place for years. Well, they don't care a damned bit about what you look like as long as you're a sentient being. Since she wanted to become a human being and live as one, Keitarō volunteered to become her DNA template. _Poof!_ He gets a sister named Taeko! She did a blood transfusion back to him after she woke up in her new body, which gave him the Avalonian powers. When he met with the tōshi after her body-swap, that _marei'cha_ drive of theirs kicked in. They're bonded now."

Stunned silence fell in response to that. Haruka sighed as she sipped the sixth cup of tea she had made for herself as a way of calming down after getting _slapped_ by _**Keitarō**_ of all people hours before! Much that a part of her was starting to understand where her cousin was ultimately coming from when it came to Taeko and her place in his life, the fact that he had resorted to THAT in response to Haruka's calling the former tokkaebi a "demon" had stunned the tea shop matron to the core of her very being. Seeing Urashima Keitarō use _**physical violence**_ for _any_ reason was an alien thing to anyone who knew the man at all…and clearly indicated that despite the happy-go-lucky demeanour he always projected to all around him, there was a LOT of anger and resentment that had been building up in his heart over the last year, starting with his being kicked out of his home, then being made the manager of the Hinata-sō — with all the changes that had been executed there without his being warned ahead of time, not to mention the restrictions forced on him behind his back! — right after.

"Haruka-san, you have to do something!" Kanako then yelled as the muffled noises of someone yanking the phone out of another person's hand echoed through the speaker. "You can't let Onii-chan be bonded to one of those alien girls! And she's a _tōshi_, too?! You know what sort of monsters they are! We can't let Onii-chan marry that sort of woman!"

"Oh?" Haruka trilled back as she felt the tendons over one of her eyes start to twitch. Much that she agreed deep down with her adopted cousin's opinions concerning people like Dō Karumi, she knew through discussing this whole situation with Shiina Kaoru — the healer had beamed up to Space Factory #319 with the relatives of the wounded tenants from the Hinata-sō a couple hours before; they had been invited aboard as guests of the Avalonians and would be allowed to stay there until their relatives had recovered and were discharged from Kaoru's care before being allowed to return to Earth — that once the soul-bond of _marei'cha_ was forged between bond-mates, it was effectively for life. "Well, it's way too late to stop it. I heard from a couple of the girls staying here now that Keitarō and Karumi — that's her name, Dō Karumi — are going to stay overnight in the Forbidden Annex and allow the magic of the place to solidify things between them."

"_**WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!**_" Keitarō's adopted sister screamed again.

More muffled sounds, and then Nanako came back on. "Haruka! What's going on?!"

Haruka sighed. Much that she didn't have any reason to really hate her aunt/adopted sister-in-law, Nanako tended to exert the same "I control everything in my house and family" attitude many mothers in Japan did. That, Haruka had concluded, had probably been a big contributing factor to what had happened last year that forced Keitarō to come to Hinata. "Keitarō and his fiancée are spending the night in the Forbidden Annex at the back of the property, Nanako-san," she said. "Because the Annex is cursed to force couples who sleep inside overnight to stay together for the rest of their lives, I'll lay a pretty strong bet that he'll formally ask for her hand in marriage sometime tomorrow morning." As a gargled intake of breath from Nanako and a wail of denial from Kanako answered that statement, the tea shop matron breathed out. "While I personally would have hoped Keitarō might have NOT chosen a _tōshi_ of all people as his future wife, he's committed to Karumi-san now. The _marei'cha_ bond guarantees that."

"**_HE PROMISED ME WE'D RUN THE HINATA-SŌ TOGETHER!_**" Kanako howled.

Haruka blinked in confusion. "Kanako-chan, since when does a promise to run the dorm together have anything to do with Keitarō getting married to someone?"

"**_HE'S SUPPOSED TO MARRY_ ME_, HARUKA!_**"

The tea shop matron blinked again. "Kanako-chan, you're his _sister_!" she declared as things began to slowly add up inside her mind. "Sisters and brothers don't get married!"

"**_I'M HIS_ ADOPTED _SISTER! WE CAN STILL GET MARRIED!_**" Kanako asserted.

"**_URASHIMA KANAKO!_**" Nanako screamed out. "_**YOU'RE NOT GETTING MARRIED TO ANYONE, LEAST OF ALL YOUR BROTHER! STOP TALKING THAT SORT OF NONSENSE!**_"

"**_HE PROMISED ME!_**"

As shouting began over the phone, Haruka felt the tendons over her eye twitch even more. _Ye gods! I_ know _Keitarō would never make a promise to marry Kanako! He's never seen her as anything more than his sister since his parents adopted her! How could…?_ She then groaned as all the clues stemming from Keitarō's venomous words concerning Kanako over the last couple of days finally came together. _Oh, great! Kanako probably twisted things around in her head to change that promise to run the Hinata-sō with Keitarō into a proposal for_ marriage _of all things! Before Keitarō met Dō, he sure as hell wasn't ready to commit to something like_ that_!_ Pulling out her cigarette pack, she moved to slip one of the soothing sticks of tobacco into her mouth, then moved to find her lighter…

…before the end of the cigarette light up with a purple flame for a second before it began to simmer. Blinking, Haruka found herself looking left…

…and then she cringed on seeing a female version of Keitarō in a modern-day version of a Korean commoner's hanbok leaning against the open doorway of her café, an amused look on her face. Before Haruka could do anything on finding herself so close to Taeko, the tokkaebi-turned-sorceress made a gesture with her hand to allow the cordless telephone in her adopted cousin's hand to disconnect. "You won't get anything out of them for at least an hour, Haruka-ya," the other woman stated as she straightened herself, then sat down across from Haruka. "That's not the first time Kanako-ya made her desires to share Keitarō-ya's futon openly known to her parents. The last time — at least to his personal knowledge — that she expressed her hopes of becoming his wife was early last year, just before the Centre Test. When he heard his parents and Kanako-ya argue about that, it sickened him so much that he was distracted when he went into the testing hall. You know what happened next."

Haruka blinked. "He blames her for failing the second time?"

"Deep down, he does," Taeko answered. "Believe me, when he got the message from Hina inviting him to come stay at the Hinata-sō, he was more than relieved to get away from Kanako-ya for a while. Of course…" — her grey eyes narrowed — "…Hina should have told him a few other things along the way before he came here. It might have spared him a lot of trouble from the girls living here at the time." She then crossed her arms. "Still, he knows that Naru-ya, Motoko-ya, Mitsune-ya, Kaolla-ya and Shinobu-ya were also made victims to Hina's ultimate desire to help him find his promise girl — which is Naru-ya, by the way — without taking into account how deep their own fears concerning having a _**man**_ of all things become their landlord actually were."

The physically older woman blinked. "How long's he known the truth?"

"About Toshiko-ya and her sisters living in Hinata? I told him the night you were all taken to the hospital," the former tokkaebi answered. "He was shocked at first — and sickened when he learned of those poor girls' masters — but I warned him that it was a much bigger problem than what he and I could safely handle together." Taeko sighed. "Being what I am allows me to be somewhat precognitive. I knew something really big was coming. I knew it was going to involve Negako-sŏnbaenim in a way; I heard through Keitarō-ya about what had been revealed when Kyech-ssi's friends brought those poor people from Tomobiki back to Earth last month. But I knew something was coming soon."

"What would have happened if you couldn't get that body?" Haruka asked as she pointed at Taeko's heart. "Keitarō's been planning to get the ownership of the Hinata-sō for months now."

"He hoped that he could eventually persuade the girls that what he was doing was the right thing in the end," Taeko answered with a sigh. "As you know, they were starting to warm up to him, even Motoko-ya. I kept him abreast of their feelings towards him. It was fair play, after all, especially after Kaolla-ya got too nosey at times. Once I helped him finally get over his clumsiness and nervousness when it came to dealing with the girls, I'm sure he could have made a logical argument concerning his concerns about how they were all forced together like that, then support whatever he did to make the Hinata-sō a viable business again. Of course…" A wry smirk crossed her face. "You would have been forced to face up to _**one**_ particular thing Hina didn't do at the end of next month."

Haruka winced. "Forty-five million yen…!" she groaned out. "Hell, I couldn't loan him that sort of money. I doubt anyone else…" She blinked. "What the hell's this about Su-chan?! The girls are saying she's from some island in the Pacific…"

"Molmol. Legally part of the Marshall Islands Republic, though they see themselves as an independent kingdom," Taeko answered. "She's the younger daughter of their late king, not to mention the fiancée of the current king. She IS descent from the people of India; her ancestors were shipwrecked on the island a couple centuries ago and interbred with the natives." She shook her head. "They're quite an uncontrolled bunch. If you think Kaolla-ya was quite reckless concerning Keitarō-ya, that's seen as _normal_ there." A snort then escaped her. "Of course, she shouldn't have gone and bragged about all the times she's 'played' with Keitarō-ya in letters home that were later read on the _**evening news**_. Complete with _**film**_ of their 'playing' together; that was done thanks to the small troop of Molmolites in Hinata who came here to watch over her."

The tea shop matron winced again. Keitarō could forgive a lot from people…but there was no way in Hell that he would forgive _**that**_! "Oh, ye gods…!"

"Hence, our removing her things from the Hinata-sō, plus warning them that we won't accept her back unless she has learned that arcane concept called 'discipline,'" the effective new landlady of the Hinata-sō stated. "Back in Molmol before her parents died, she had a stern yet caring nanny named Tirtha Sapta. She encouraged Kaolla-ya's intelligence and creativity, yet also tried to make her understand that certain modes of behaviour would not be tolerated. Especially since Kaolla-ya was a princess and could serve as a cultural representative of her people if she ever travelled abroad in support of the Molmolites' quest to win recognition for their effective independence from their cousins elsewhere in the Marshall Islands. Unfortunately, after Kaolla-ya's parents died, some rude fellow in the Royal Palace decided Tirtha-ssi would no longer work there." She shook her head. "I don't know if I might consider altering my demands to have Tirtha-ssi come live here at the Hinata-sō to supervise Kaolla-ya before letting her come back. I'm not sure what the people over in Molmol might do to…"

"Taeko-sama!"

Both turned as a wide-eyed Yamamoto Eriko ran into the café. "Oh, my! What's wrong, Eriko-ya?!" Taeko asked…before she blinked as a dataPADD was thrust right into her face by the Elder Mother of the Hinata Avalonians. "Eh?! What's…?!"

Silence then fell as the tokkaebi-turned-sorceress scanned what was written there…and then she gaped. "Oh, my…!" she said as she took the slate crystal touch-screen laptop computer/communications device in hand and placed it on the table.

Haruka stood up, moving herself around so she could read what was written there. A moment later, she hummed. "Well, _that_ certainly explains a few things!"

Eriko nodded…

* * *

Molmol City, the Royal Hospital, Saturday 20 February, after breakfast (Tōkyō time: Before dawn)…

"Miss Tirtha! It's been so long! How are you?!"

A woman with dark blue eyes and long, straight black hair done in a simple ponytail perked on hearing that cheerful voice, and then she turned to offer her hand to the approaching doctor. "I'm quite fine, Doctor Agni," Tirtha Sapta said as Agni Yajna warmly shook her hand. "I just got the news about Princess Kaolla. How is she?"

The senior doctor trained in normal medicine working at the Royal Hospital waved the former royal nanny to accompany him up the main steps into the building. "We got her stabilized, but the damage to her nervous system is extensive," he answered her. Agni had often associated with Tirtha when the latter worked as Kaolla Su's governess at the Royal Palace; despite the fact that she had been relieved on her post by the Grand Chamberlain in the wake of the deaths of Kaolla's parents — and Tirtha's mother, the beloved "Candy Lady" Videshii Sapta, who had won the hearts of Molmolite children thanks to her homemade chocolate — three years ago, the doctor knew how much Tirtha still cared for her former ward. "If she didn't have magical genes in her, there'd be little we could do for her given the severity of the wounds. It would be as if she was suffering from a form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which would turn her into a version of that poor fellow from Britain who's confined to a wheelchair and has to talk through a computer."

Tirtha nodded. "What is the Royal Wizard doing?"

"Fortunately, the neural damage in the Princess' nerves is very similar to the damage a body takes after long exposure to the Cruciatus Curse," Agni answered as they headed up a set of stairs to the upper floor. "Because of that, Mistress Surya is preparing a special potion that will draw on the Princess' magic to help her nerves regenerate."

Hearing that, the Elder Mother of the Avalonians of Molmol tried not to scowl as her mind raged, _Ignorant_ de'ne_! Kaolla doesn't HAVE magic! She's a METAHUMAN for Lyna's sake! You can't use_ magical _potions to cure a_ metahuman_'s wounds, especially one whose powers are based on RUBY MESON of all things!_ She kept her face neutral, of course; fifteen years of experience in masking her true feelings from the natives she interacted with on a daily basis had effectively made her the perfect deep-penetration spy…which she really had been all along despite the fact that her late mother had lost all contact with her own superiors back on Phentax Two sometime shortly after Tirtha had emerged from gestation.

By then, Videshii — who had spent ten years before her daughter's birth establishing herself on the island to avert any possible suspicions as to her true origins by her adopted countrymen — had been heavily bombarded with the ebony meson radiation that emanated from the deposits of the ultra-dense trans-uranium element in the Kasi Mountains that formed the northern spine of Molmol Island close to her residence. Though being exposed to such energy was not as bad as being directly exposed to the physical element itself — as the tragic history of the Übermenschen Gruppe, Nazi Germany's primary metahuman fighting force in World War Two, so readily demonstrated — the long-term psychological effects couldn't be ignored. While not breaking cover and revealing what she was — Videshii's thorough training before she came to Earth guaranteed that — to the people around her, her inhibitions eventually vanished and she became as uncontrolled and wild as any of the natives. That had ironically helped her be better accepted amongst the local population…though, as Tirtha fondly remembered, her ability to make chocolate as good as anything made by Nestlé or Hershey made her as popular amongst the children of Molmol as "Big Brother John" Magill was these days.

_How ironic_, Tirtha mused to herself as a smile crossed her face.

And speaking of which…

"Hey, Doc."

Agni nodded as the former American navy chief damage controlman came up to him. "Hello, John," the doctor said as he shook the hand of the chief of the city's fire brigade. "Doing the post-incident inspection of the west wing?"

"Yeah, just got it done," John answered. "Electrical fire, sparked up by all that stuff that was teleported into the hallway and Princess Kaolla's bedroom from Japan. The salvage crews are still dismantling some of the stuff. We moved the fembots into the princess' new bedroom; once Ms. Surya gets her healed up somewhat, she'll want to occupy herself with something before she's discharged. Why not fix the damage on those robots she made?"

Agni nodded. "Good point. I just hope that once she's done with the Princess, Mistress Surya will find some way to strike back at that witch who said all those horrible lies about the Princess' big brother. If she heard such things…" He shuddered.

Tirtha tried not to roll her eyes. After her trip to Pararakelse last night to meet up with her sisters living there — as well as local government officials — she returned to Kasi village with the two most important things she and her sisters on Molmol now needed: tricorders for close-range sensory work and dataPADDs that would allow them to link into a new "HyperNet" system that would allow members of the bioroid race to keep in touch with each other regardless of where they were. This would also allow the Avalonian-Molmolites to directly request supplies from the bioroid factory itself, not to mention the space factory satellites seized during the Liberation. _Much that I loved my mother and honour her memory, it's about time_ someone _finally came along and made those idiots back on Phentax Two see that they aren't the kings of the whole damned galaxy!_ she mused to herself on thinking of the 506 rotating wheel space stations — each the size of a small town and capable of cranking out an _**American supermarket chain**_'s worth of products per _**day**_ at full capacity as long as there was enough inert matter taken in from places such as asteroid belts and uninhabited, airless moons for the replicator units to use — now crowding geostationary orbit over Earth and the Lagrangian points around both Earth and its lone natural satellite. Without the space factories — worse, without even the BASIC KNOWLEDGE to construct replacement units; such had been ultimately lost as the Avalonians had been allowed over the years thanks to Niphentaxian laziness to become the true artisans and engineers of the Union of Phentax Two — her mother's people would need decades if not a CENTURY to recover from the damage the Noukiites and Yehisrites unleashed.

The Niphentaxians' many enemies — the Ipraedies being at the top of that list — wouldn't allow the once-most powerful race of the Galactic Federation such a chance.

Too bad.

"Well, this Taeko is the sister of the landlord of the Hinata House," John reminded the doctor. "She's got every right in the world to make sure Keitarō's safe."

"The Princess has never hurt Lord Keitarō!" the doctor protested.

Tirtha gaped in shock at the doctor. _Lyna's Eternal Soul, man! Did you actually_ watch _the same news broadcasts I did?!_ she railed at Agni, horrified at his callousness when it came to Urashima Keitarō…which once more proved how much the radiation emanating from the Kasi Mountains was badly affecting him. While the ebony meson energy didn't make people like Agni Yajna "evil" by the normal textbook definition of the term, it clearly DID — as it had done to Tirtha's mother — strip inhibitions from his soul and badly warped the man's personal virtues and morals into some mad parody of what would be seen as civilized elsewhere. No doctor anywhere else on Earth would condone daily strikes to the head — even to a person protected by the magic of a five century-old tokkaebi! — by someone's feet, hitting with the same force as a fastball thrown by an experienced Major League Baseball pitcher such as Sandy Koufax. But here in Molmol, even the _doctors_ saw such attacks by Kaolla Su on Urashima Keitarō as her simply _**playing**_ with him.

Go figure…

_She certainly won't get away with it anymore, even if I_ do _find some way to persuade Thoughtmistress-prime Taeko and her brother to let her go back to the Hinata House_, the Elder Mother of the Avalonian-Molmolites mused to herself as she ignored the debate between John — who, as an American who had lived on Molmol for only a decade, clearly seemed not to have been affected as much by the ebony meson radiation from the Kasi Mountains as any native; as to what the difference was between John and Tirtha's own mother, she couldn't guess — and Agni over what had been going on in Hinata over the last year between Kaolla and Keitarō. Having taken the chance to read up on Urashima Taeko and her brother now that she could access the HyperNet and converse with her opposite number in Hinata, Yamamoto Eriko, Tirtha had to personally admire Keitarō for taking such a strong moral stance towards the poor tokkaebi who had been _kidnapped_ from her homeland in 1592, _mutilated_ to become a sword to be the new weapon of the man that had kidnapped her…and then, after she sought vengeance for her sufferings, was literally _enslaved_ by none other than _**Hosan Hirosuke**_ himself to serve warriors of the nation whose foolish son had seen her so badly hurt in the first place! That the being once known as T'aeja of Chosŏn had reciprocated her "little brother's" willingness to accept her as his spiritual elder sister figure when he first got to know her fifteen years ago wasn't really surprising at all. Tokkaebi may have the same fearsome reputations in Korea as oni and tsukumogami did in Japan, but they were also known to be fair beings; treat them with respect and kindness and they would immediately reciprocate such. And given that Keitarō — whose other relations he simply no longer wanted to have anything to do with — had desperately needed a new sense of family…!

"What's going on here?"

Everyone perked, and then they turned to see an elderly woman appearing to be in her late sixties approach them from the direction of Kaolla's room. Dressed in more ornate robes than what Tirtha currently wore, she had an aura of great power and knowledge around her. "Mistress Surya," Agni greeted the Royal Wizard — the job title didn't change even if the incumbent was a woman — with a respectful bow. "Are you finished with the Princess today?"

"Yes, my examination of her for today is complete," Surya Patha stated with a slight nod of the head. An alumnus of the Dejima School of Wizardry and Witchcraft in the great port city of Nagasaki — the only magical academy in Japan where prospective witches and wizards could learn the European style of wand magic taught at Hogwarts — from the Masters Class of 1931, she had vowed her wand and magic to fight with the forces of Yomigawa Tsukiko to help liberate magicals enslaved by nations such as Britain, France and Holland in places such as Indochina, the East Indies and the Indian subcontinent in what was known worldwide as "Tsukuyomi's War of Liberation" from 1939-45. She had also personally transported food and other badly needed supplies to her homeland when the Americans put a full military blockade on Molmol in 1943 shortly after their costly victory at nearby Tarawa; while it hadn't been enough to prevent people from going hungry because of the lack of normal food supplies on Molmol, it had prevented people from dying from starvation.

Because of that, Surya Patha was seen today as the island kingdom's greatest modern hero, viewed by her countrymen with the same awe and respect that magicals in Britain these days viewed Harry Potter and their counterparts in Canada saw Heather Thompkins.

Thanks to her actions during the Greater East Asia War — she always used the Japanese title for the Pacific side of World War Two when she spoke of that time in her life — Surya was declared the Royal Wizard in 1962, near the end of the reign of Kaolla's great-grandfather Laran Su. He was the monarch — those before them often accepted the less-respected title of "chieftain" when they described themselves and their place in their native society — who had declared back in 1950 that no other earthly power ruled Molmol and that his government would not recognize the Americans' indifferent rule over their island or people as an element of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. While such a declaration hadn't done much to win Molmol official recognition in the eyes of the member states of the United Nations or the member groups of the International Conference of Magical Communities — at least the island kingdom HAD won the diplomatic recognition of the People's Republic of China in 1952, which gave them ONE powerful ally these days in New York City and Geneva! — it had filled the natives with a determination to be true masters of their own destiny no matter what it took or how long it took. In fact, Kaolla's move to Japan two years ago to study computer technology there — not to mention privately research all sorts of esoteric things like what went into the creation of the Steel Angels, the beautiful gynoid warriors created in the 1920s thanks to ground-breaking technology and cutting-edge magical technomancy — had been in response to her own great-grandfather's call to make Molmol as free as possible.

Tirtha knew that Surya had personally encouraged the former's young ward to go forth and learn what she could in Japan.

Which ultimately was a good thing in and of itself. Despite her being an Avalonian genetically, Tirtha Sapta saw herself as a Molmolite spiritually. While she did have a much greater sense of propriety and a more profound understanding of how the outside world worked than her normal neighbours, she did love this island nation and its people and did support their drive to full self-determination. It was simple logic in the end. Population-wise, Molmol outweighed their cousins in the rest of the Republic of the Marshall Islands on a four-to-one scale and would dominate politics in Majuro to the detriment of everyone else were they persuaded to stay politically unified with the rest of the Marshalls. Molmol also had a strong industrial base, was nearly self-sufficient in basic foodstuffs such as seafood and rice, enjoyed very good trading relations with China and the nineteen other nations that had extended formal diplomatic ties to it — not to mention did its best to permit the continued existence of a strong black market trade in advanced technological goods with people in Australia and New Zealand who helped them under the table; the United States had outlawed all trade with the "breakaway district" of the Marshall Islands that was defying the clauses of the Compact of Free Association signed between Washington and Majuro by creating its own indigenous armed forces — and could theoretically stand as an independent nation with little problem at all.

If, of course, the natives would kindly learn those remarkably arcane concepts called "self-discipline" and "respect for other peoples and cultures."

_Which will take quite a while to fully force on the people here_, Tirtha lamented to herself as she half-listened to the conversation between Surya and Agni about Kaolla's current condition; John Magill had gone off to return to his station near the centre of Molmol City. With the alert of a potential island-wide case of ebony meson radiation poisoning having been passed to John Fitzpatrick in Pararakelse City, Tirtha hoped that such would prompt the ICMC into immediate corrective action. Given that it wasn't as bad as an island full of people who were suffering from direct exposure to the densest and most dangerous form of mesonium, the Elder Mother of the Avalonians on Molmol hoped that the people in Geneva wouldn't hit the panic button and initiate the Omega Protocol. That — devised by Earth's Seeker Jewel Warrior in the late 1940s when questions about dealing with insane metahuman warriors powered by ebony meson came up; those who worried about such things had fresh memories of the battles between the Übermenschen Gruppe and Dean Raeburn's small troop of metahuman warriors, the War Hawks — would, if implemented, see specially-trained hit-wizards and hit-witches invade Molmol and inject all the natives with high doses of ruby meson to force the ebony meson particles inside their targets' bodies to de-crystalize, thus freeing the victims of the dark passions almost always unleashed by that black material. Unfortunately, there was more often than not a VERY high percentage of people dying from having their souls and bodies ripped apart because of the conflicting influences of the two types of meson in their cardiovascular systems; because of this, the Omega Protocol was something that was only initiated in the direst of circumstances.

"_Most likely, the Department of Magic will send a message to the Ministry of Magical Affairs in Ottawa to have Major Raeburn — when she's back on Earth next time — come look at this situation herself_," the former magical FBI special agent who now served as the senior officer of the Department of Magic on Pararakelse told Tirtha last night in the office of Governor Traya Namo. "_Since no one on Molmol has had any direct contact with the ebony meson buried in the Kasi Mountains, I personally think we don't need the Omega Protocol in this case._" He then — much to Tirtha's amusement — lamented that it would actually be NICE for once to talk to a native of Molmol without the latter trying to lord it over him.

"Excuse me? Mistress Surya?"

"Yes?" Surya asked as she, Agni and Tirtha turned.

The Avalonian-Molmolite sensed it right away: A gentle wave of empathic energy that was a clear marker of a sister bioroid approaching her. Turning to look, she then smiled on seeing the positively gorgeous woman walking up to them, dressed in an ornately-designed dark blue qípáo decorated with prancing golden dragons and phoenixes, made of lightweight materials because of the tropical conditions that always ruled the weather on Molmol. She was classically Chinese in looks, possessing rich sable black hair that went down to the level of her breasts and very dark brown eyes. She was obviously an Avalonian; Tirtha could see the outline of the other woman's nipples pressing into the fabric of her top and it was clearly obvious she wasn't wearing panties. She had the badges of both the Communist Party of China and the Chinese Ministry of Magical Affairs on the stand collars of her qípáo. On seeing the latter, Tirtha was shocked; being part of _that_ particular government ministry in Běijīng meant that the beautiful Avalonian-Chinese woman now before her was magical and had graduated from one of the several ancient schools formed in the time of the Xiàoláng Emperor of the Latter Hàn Dynasty eighteen centuries ago who taught that particular discipline in the People's Republic.

The newcomer gracefully bowed her head. "It's an honour to meet a warrior who fought at the side of the Lady Tsukuyomi herself," she said as she offered her hand to the older witch. "I'm Tāng Wéi, executive assistant to Ambassador Gāo."

"And how is Xiùmǐn these days?" Surya asked as she grasped the visitor's hand.

The newcomer nodded. "She's fine. She's visiting His Majesty right now at the Royal Palace. She'll be by later today to visit Princess Kaolla; she asked me to look in on her now."

The Royal Wizard of Molmol nodded as she pulled her hand back. "Just as long as you don't wake her up," she stated before waving to Kaolla's ex-nanny. "In fact, Tirtha, why don't you take her there?" she then asked.

"I'd love to," the Elder Mother of the Avalonians of Molmol stated with a grin.

With that, they parted from Surya. Both women then followed Agni down the hallway into the last suite on the left. Once inside, both women stopped on seeing a dozen adult versions of Kaolla Su — all with metal chopsticks punched into their foreheads — placed in chairs around the bed holding the sleeping princess of Molmol. Both Avalonians were quick to note that these strange beings were as still as mannequins. "Um…?" Wéi began.

The doctor chuckled. "They're fembot replicas of the Princess; she built them to help her remember what happens to her when she faces the Crimson Moon," he quietly said. "They were damaged and deactivated by someone at the Hinata House before that awful Taeko woman sent them back here, causing the fire in the west wing of the hospital yesterday."

Wéi hummed. "I would advise you, Doctor, to dial back the rhetoric when it comes to the Lady Taeko," she warned. "She's a tokkaebi, a Korean trickster spirit that was trapped inside a sword by the Immortal Master Hosan for 407 years against her will because she was literally mutilated at the orders of the man who kidnapped her from Korea in the first place." As the doctor gaped in shock, the visitor from China lightly smiled. "Angering someone like her — whose total magical power rivals that of Supreme Mugwump Thompkins and the Lady Tsukuyomi according to the Kantō Magical Association — is something you DON'T want to do!" She raised a finger in emphasis.

The doctor shakily nodded his head, then withdrew himself from the room. Once they were alone, Wéi closed the door behind her, then proceeded to whisper a small chant in Mandarin. Tirtha was quick to sense intense waves of power emanating from the Avalonian-Chinese sorceress' hands to flood the whole room, though she also sensed that Wéi felt it was necessary to do this. Once that was done, the visitor from Běijīng then grinned. "_Neka do hagh wae ronghki wae joghza va_," she then greeted in Sagussan.

Tirtha beamed. "_Neka do hagh wae ronghki wae joghza va_. Welcome to Molmol, sister." She then chuckled softly as she opened her arms.

Wéi immediately hugged her as they began to passionately kiss. Once that contact was made, information flooded into Tirtha's mind about the other woman. Tāng Wéi was an adopted native of Jǐnán in Shāndōng Province; her parents had been observers in that city since well before the Cultural Revolution. Created at the youngest possible physical age for an Avalonian — the equivalent of a six year-old in Terran terms — twenty years ago, Wéi had accidentally been exposed to magic that had been brought to that city by a grandmaster of Kūnlún Pài shortly after her birth thanks to his spending twenty years in the mystical mountains that crossed the centre of the Middle Kingdom itself learning how to master his own qì…and ended up mastering a lot more along the way. Thanks to the magic altering certain strands of her own DNA to give her the ability to use that power, Wéi soon found herself formally invited to the Pénglái Magical Academy in Shāndōng when she celebrated her "eighth" — chronologically her second — birthday.

Studying there for the standard ten year course to gain a grandmastery in magical psychokinesis — what traditional magicals in Europe called "transfiguration" — and masteries in other disciplines, she graduated from Pénglái at the top of her class, then was snapped up by the Ministry of Magical Affairs to eventually become the personal assistant of Gāo Xiùmǐn, the Magical Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the ICMC. While Wéi had no choice but to report all she did to her parents, she — much less her sister Avalonian-Chinese living in and around Jǐnán — had not been mistreated at all by her father/master and mother/mistress; all one hundred of that particular group of bioroids had ultimately become their extended family of beloved daughters — Wéi had three sisters, all not blessed with magic — and nieces. Unfortunately, unlike Tirtha's mother, Wéi's father and mother were always passionately loyal to the "church of the day" back home; when the Noukiites came down on Wednesday evening to deal with the observers from that world, they had been whisked away to the prison ship for an eventual voyage to Hichkyech'eng via Star Chamber on Tengsei.

Fortunately for Wéi, her superior hadn't blinked twice at the idea of her personal assistant being an Avalonian. Despite Wéi being forced to report all she did to her parents, she had been a hundred-and-ten percent loyal to the Ministry of Magical Affairs and her adopted nation. After she had profusely apologized to her superiors for being forced to deceive them like that, Wéi had then been chosen by the Minister of Magical Affairs herself, Madame Qú Yǐng, to serve as the official government liaison between the magicals of the People's Republic and the hundred thousand Avalonian-Chinese living in that nation at that time; this would allow her to — when she wasn't busy with Gāo Xiùmǐn — work closely with the newly-elected Elder Mother of of the Avalonians of China and the effective ambassador of the bioroid race to the central government in Běijīng, Madame Qiāng Yùshuǐ.

Both women reluctantly pulled apart, allowing their minds to once more become their own as they relaxed themselves. "A pity we aren't in a more private place," Wéi huskily stated as she tried to fight the urge to allow her body to fully surrender to the rolling waves of passion now flooding her mind and give her an unbelievable orgasm.

"Much that I'd love to take you to bed, sister, the girl I view as my adopted daughter is in the room at this time," Tirtha whispered back before she slowly pulled away from the other Avalonian, then — after stepping around the feet of two of the gynoid replicas of her former charge in adult form — she moved to stand close to Kaolla's bed.

Gazing on the wounded princess of Molmol, Wéi could only wince in horror on seeing the bruises on the exposed parts of Kaolla's body, especially her right temple. "Lyna's Soul, what possessed whoever did this to hurt a CHILD this way?" she hissed.

"The person who attacked her is like your parents," Tirtha whispered as she gently shifted some of Kaolla's blonde hair away from her forehead. "Loyal to the 'church of the day'…but he loved his sister dearly." As Wéi smirked on hearing that derisive term Avalonians privately devised years ago to spit upon the frequent changes of "faith" the Niphentaxians put themselves through all the time, the Avalonian-Molmolite sighed. "She had become friends with the landlord of the dorm house Kaolla was living in. Kaolla was like most people on this island; acting like a wild lunatic at times. Toshiko — that's the name of our sister whose brother did this to Kaolla — came down on that sort of behaviour to give the poor landlord a breather from being hurt all the time. On the night the Liberation happened, her brother — when he believed he was going to die because the Noukiites were coming for him — decided that since she was in love with him, he'd give Toshiko a parting present and moved to shoot Kaolla and three others at the dorm to 'clear the path,'"

Wéi scowled. "I doubt Toshiko would have liked that."

"According to the Elder Mother in Hinata, she doesn't. But she'll defend Keitarō — he's Thoughtmistress-prime Urashima Taeko's adopted brother and the landlord of the Hinata House; that's where Kaolla had been staying the last two years — from anyone who'd hurt him. As would the other 'older' girls of that group; they're already sizing him up to become their child-mate sometime in the future." Tirtha then smirked. "Not that having Thoughtmistress-prime Taeko and another Terran-turned-Avalonian girl — a woman named Dō Karumi; she's now Keitarō's bond-mate — around would be seen as bad enough to some people." With that, she took a deep breath before reaching over to gently touch Kaolla's face.

The visiting Avalonian-Chinese sorceress fell silent as her sister moved to do a deep mind-probe of her former charge. She then tensed on sensing a flash of stunned outrage explode from within Tirtha's heart before the other woman pulled her fingers away. Immediately, she was at her sister's side, offering comfort. "What…?"

The Avalonian-Molmolite growled, "_**I — will — KILL — her!**_" she snarled out.

"What?!" Wéi demanded.

"Miss Tir-…tha…?"

Both bioroids gasped on hearing that pain-filled voice, then moved immediately to comfort as Wéi whispered the incantation for a detailed diagnostic spell and Tirtha leaned down to tenderly kiss Kaolla on the forehead, projecting a powerful surge of love and support into her former charge's soul. "I'm sorry, sweetie!" she whispered as Kaolla's turquoise eyes slowly opened. "I didn't mean to wake you up…"

A light smile crossed the princess' face on seeing the older woman. "It's okay…I…missed you…"

Tears filled Tirtha's eyes. "I missed you, too, little _rei'cha_…"

Wéi gave her a warning look. "Tirtha…"

"'S okay…" Kaolla whispered. "I heard…the healers…speak of…the Space Angels…" She smiled as the older women sensed the delight and wonder in the princess' heart on finally learning THAT secret about her former nanny. "You're…both aliens…?"

Tirtha sighed. Well, THAT was a hurdle overcome. "Actually, I was born in Kasi village. Just like Wéi here was born in Jǐnán in China." She waved at the visiting sorceress as she finished the diagnostic spell. "Our bodies are alien, though. They were initially made on a great factory ship; it's where all the Space Angels come from."

Kaolla frowned. "You're not…a machine…" she breathed out. "I saw you…bleed once…when you cut yourself…in the kitchen…"

"We're bioroids, Kaolla," Wéi said. "Fully organic biological androids. The most perfect test-tube babies and designer clones you can ever find anywhere in the galaxy."

The princess gazed on her, and then she smiled. "You're…really pretty…"

A blush crossed the older woman's face. "So are you. Did you build these gynoids here?"

Kaolla blinked, and then slowly turned her head to the left. She then blinked again on noting the still fembots seated near her bed. "Hey…what are they…doing here? They're supposed to…be with Onii-chan…"

Tirtha sighed. "Kaolla, do you remember what I once told you about playing too roughly with people?" she then said with a touch of firmness in her voice. Wéi was quick to sense Kaolla slightly cringe on hearing that tone in her former nanny's words. "Why have you been doing that with your landlord in Japan?" she then asked.

A slight gulp escaped the wounded princess. "Naru…Motoko…they do it…"

"Who?" Wéi wondered.

"Two of the other residents of the Hinata House in Japan," Tirtha whispered. "They all met their landlord under very embarrassing circumstances early last year. Ever since that time, those girls have acted as if they have every right in the world to punish him for any sort of transgression, even when they were obvious accidents." She then gazed on Kaolla, the disappointment in her voice quite apparent as she added, "Not to mention that they're setting a bad example to beautiful and smart princesses who should KNOW better than that."

A sniff as Kaolla's eyes teared. Much that she loved her former nanny and had missed her greatly, she HATED it every time Tirtha scolded her. "I'm sorry…"

"It's not me you have to say 'I'm sorry' to, Kaolla," the Elder Mother of the Avalonians on Molmol stated. "It's Keitarō. And if you don't show that you're really sorry, he won't let you stay at the Hinata House with all your friends anymore. That means you'll have to live back here in Molmol with those meanies in the Palace." As Kaolla cringed on hearing that, Tirtha leaned down to kiss her forehead to show her that she wouldn't allow her former charge to be close to such "meanies" anymore if she could help it. "You want that?"

Another sniff escaped Kaolla. "No…I love…Onii-chan…" She then gazed to her left. "Even made…them to love…Onii-chan, too…"

"Then why didn't you tell him about them?" the former royal nanny asked. "When they woke up last night at the Hinata House, our sisters there all thought they were going to hurt him. Just like all the times you hurt him?" As Kaolla sniffed again, Tirtha leaned down to wipe her cheeks clean to show her that she still loved her even if she was upset at her. "Because of that, Keitarō's new fiancée — she's one of us, too — had to make them go to sleep. Keitarō's new sister — she's also one of us — sent them back here since she didn't like you being mean to him."

Kaolla sniffed several more times as she tried not to cry at the idea of Keitarō being mad at her and not wanting her to be at the Hinata-sō anymore…and then she blinked as two things Tirtha said then clicked in. "Onii-chan…sister…fiancée…?"

Tirtha nodded. "Yes. His sister is Taeko and his fiancée is Karumi. His fiancée is a very great fighter, even better than Motoko is. Keitarō saved her from something really bad that nearly made her go to Heaven, then asked our sisters in Hinata to make her one of us." As Kaolla nodded at that, Tirtha added, "At the same time, Keitarō wanted a sister. When he was a boy, he found this magic sword called the Yōkatana Hinata in the Hinata House." As a gulp escaped the princess, her former nanny hummed. "Ah! Motoko told you?"

The princess faintly nodded. "That's a sword…real meanie in it…"

"Yes, the Lady T'aeja can be a meanie," Wéi stated as she reached over to gently touch the younger girl's forehead, which made Kaolla smile at the softness of the Avalonian-Chinese sorceress' skin against her own. "But then again, look what happened to her. She was kidnapped from Korea, taken to Japan and then turned into a sword against her will by the meanie who kidnapped her. So since she wanted just to go back home to Korea, Lady T'aeja possessed the meanie and tried to leave Japan. People didn't want her to go, so they all tried to stop her…and she got really mad and burned all of Kyōto to the ground, sending a lot of them to Heaven because they didn't want to understand what happened. Then some real meanie trapped her in the sword and made her serve people she didn't like, not even asking her if she wanted to do that."

"Would YOU like it if someone turned you into a cyborg?" Tirtha asked.

Kaolla made a face on hearing THAT. While Tirtha had been her nanny, the Avalonian-Molmolite resolved to teach her about scientific ethics. To drive her point home, she got copies of the first version of _The Bionic Woman_ on DVDs and showed the young princess how much Jaime Sommers didn't like it when she woke up after her skydiving accident to find out that her right arm, both legs and her right ear had been replaced with mechanical parts. "No…"

"Well, that's what happened to the Lady T'aeja," the older woman said. "Because people just didn't want to understand what she really felt when she was kidnapped and brought to Japan, she stayed in the Hinata House…until your Onii-chan found her fifteen years ago." As Kaolla blinked on hearing that, Tirtha added, "He became friends with her right away. He didn't see her as a meanie. He saw her as a nice person. And over time, Lady T'aeja became your Onii-chan's big sister. She protected him when he came back to the Hinata House last year and you all started hurting him like you did." Ignoring the whimper from her former charge on hearing Tirtha say that Kaolla had hurt Keitarō, the Elder Mother of the Avalonian-Molmolites said, "When our sisters all became your Onii-chan's new friends, they found out about Lady T'aeja. And they didn't like the idea of your Onii-chan not having his sister really be his sister like other brothers have sisters. So they took his blood and cloned a body for her to have. Now Lady T'aeja is your Onii-chan's big sister Taeko."

Both women were quick to sense the delight in the princess' heart in hearing that Keitarō now had a real sister of his own. "Many magicals on Earth are very happy that Lady T'aeja is now Lady Taeko," Wéi added. "Even the Heavenly Sovereign of Japan is very happy about that. They're even more happy that your big brother did that for his big sister. Are you happy your big brother did that for his big sister?"

Kaolla slowly nodded. "Yeah…"

"Good," Tirtha breathed out before she leaned up to kiss her former charge on her forehead again. "We're all happy to have a new sister, too." She then sighed. "But since she loves your Onii-chan very much, Taeko's very mad at you and Naru and Motoko and Kitsune for being mean to her little brother." As Kaolla gulped on hearing that — Aoyama Motoko had been VERY graphic when she had described the full effects of the Great Fire of 1603 and what the tokkaebi in the Yōkatana Hinata had done — Tirtha gave her a supportive smile as she moved to make the princess understand why Urashima Taeko was mad at her. "Wouldn't you be mad at someone if they were mean to Amalla?"

Another faint nod answered her. "Uhn…"

"Okay," Tirtha said. "Now, I'm going to talk to Taeko and ask her if she'll let you go back to the Hinata House. But since she's mad at you, you're going to have to say you're sorry to your Onii-chan and really mean it. That means you don't play with him if he doesn't want to play with you, okay? Can you do that for me, Kaolla?"

Kaolla sniffed. "I…love him…"

Both Avalonians were quick to sense the princess' ironclad determination to remain with Urashima Keitarō no matter what obstacle — even a very powerful big sister like Urashima Taeko — stood in her way. Realizing that she may have pushed her former charge too much at this time, Tirtha sighed. "Kaolla, sweetie, I want you to go to sleep now," she then instructed. "Don't worry; one of my sisters will be always close by to make sure the meanies at the Palace won't hurt you, alright? I won't let you be hurt."

"I love…Keitarō…want him…my husband…"

Tirtha and Wéi both gaped on sensing the maturity in the young princess' words. They then winced on seeing a faint reddish glow start to surround her body. Immediately, the former royal nanny reached over to allow her mind to link with her ward. «Kaolla, stop!» she called out into the younger woman's mind. «Your body is too badly hurt! If you do this, you'll hurt yourself so badly that you'll go to Heaven! Stop!»

Hearing that, Kaolla seemed to jolt as her eyes closed and the glow around her body faded. Before her mind slipped into a peaceful slumber, that strong and mature voice of hers called out, _Tell Keitarō…I love him…please…!_

Within a minute, she was fast asleep. Wéi whispered a spell to ensure that no one would disturb the princess in her slumber, and then she moved around the bed to offer comfort to the now shuddering Tirtha. "It's alright, sister!" the sorceress whispered into the former royal nanny's ear. "It's alright. She'll be fine! We caught it in time and we can help her! Don't break down! She needs you, sister…!"

The Avalonian-Molmolite sniffed. "I know…I know…"

Both remained silent as Tirtha quietly wept…

* * *

Thirty minutes later saw both women in a local café that overlooked King Laran Park, the square kilometre of green space that divided the Royal Palace at the north end with the Royal Parliament at the south end, the Khurram Mosque at the west end and the Seraglio red light district at the east end. Given that all Molmolites either knew of magic or were magical to one extent or another, the café owner hadn't minded it when Wéi asked for a secluded booth in the back of the room. Once cups of the quite strong coffee — imported from Colombia, another of the nations that had officially recognized Molmol as an independent state — were served, Wéi then set up privacy wards to ensure their conversation remained confidential; there was just NO WAY that what they were about to discuss could be allowed to be overheard.

"Her _mei'na_ is nearly split in half," Tirtha then whispered.

"I sensed that," Wéi affirmed with a nod. "You believe Madame Surya did that?"

Tirtha sighed. "I hope by accident," the Avalonian-Molmolite stated. "I've never done a deep mind-probe of Surya before. As far as I can tell, she didn't study things like Legilimency and Occlumency…but it's better to be safe than sorry before virtually _**mind-raping**_ her for what she let happen to Kaolla."

"She's not magical," the Avalonian-Chinese sorceress affirmed. "Neuwied Test score was only 52 points. She does have a VERY high ruby meson count in her body, though."

"I suspected that all along, especially given her ability to allow her body to mature into adult form — she looks just like those gynoids in her room when she does that — plus use a form of psychokinesis to temporarily transform matter into whatever she wants to create _**and**_ manipulate the weather locally. All this always happens at the time of the Crimson Moon." As Wéi whistled on hearing the full extent of Kaolla's known metahuman powers, Tirtha sipped her coffee. "Instant I heard 'Crimson Moon' for the first time and learned what it does to people like Kaolla and Amalla, I immediately realized ruby meson had to be involved. We didn't have the equipment to scan for that sort of stuff; it was a miracle that we were able to detect the ebony meson deposits in the Kasi Mountains. As soon as we can get a troop's worth of hovercycles made — and modified for stealth — on one of the space factories, I can send people out to do a full survey of the island to see where the ruby meson is."

"Any idea?"

"Most likely, the Windy Desert on the southern side of the island. I confirmed through Thoughtmaster Fitzpatrick — he's the senior official of the American magic ministry on Pararakelse — that there's a suspected vein of ruby meson in the Desert of Death there. Since Molmol and Pararakelse were formed by the same volcanic hot spot…"

Wéi breathed out before sipping her coffee. "Where did it come from? The only known sources of meson on Earth either are derived from the Power Jewel held by the Protector of All Life…or the ebony meson deposits that eventually made _Freiherr_ von Taserich immortal thousands of years ago." She hummed. "A meteorite from the Yiziba system — a fragment of the original Seeker's Forge — that fell down on Earth in prehistoric times, maybe?"

Tirtha shrugged. "Possibly." She then sighed. "Are there any of our sisters in China who are qualified mind-healers? I don't want Kaolla to live with a damaged soul."

"One magically-trained healer who went through the Xuánzàng Academy in Luòyáng thirty years ago. She got her magic pretty much like I did." As both Avalonians giggled, the visitor from China added, "I can get her here by tomorrow. She'll be glad to help."

"Thank you."

Both then fell silent as they enjoyed their coffee. As they relaxed, Tirtha sighed as she considered what to do in the face of discovering what had happened to her charge in the wake of the deaths of her parents…and how that would affect Kaolla Su's life in the immediate future, especially given her obvious desire for one Urashima Keitarō. Who — if the biography of the man that had been put out on the HyperNet by the Hinata Avalonians that she had read late last night indicated anything — would definitely _**not**_ like having to deal with something like that, especially given the six-year age difference between the landlord of the Hinata House and the princess of Molmol. That didn't count the fact that he was now bond-mates to a woman his physical and emotional age named Dō Karumi; Tirtha had actually cried when she read what had happened to that woman at the hands of Keitarō's grandmother Hinata. According to the last message Tirtha received from Yamamoto Eriko, Keitarō and Karumi were going to spend the night in an annex building of the Hinata-sō that was magically blessed to forge a lifelong emotional bond upon all couples who stay overnight within its walls. Atop that, while Sagussan cultural and social traditions — which Avalonians knew of — didn't forbid cross-gender bond-mates enjoying intimate relationships with people of both sexes seeking them out as child-mates, Keitarō and Karumi had both been born and raised on Earth in a country where having such mistresses had fallen quite out of favour…despite the fact that having such had been a long tradition in Japan. To top it off, Lamba Lu had once promised Kaolla he would marry her…which, while not seen as a formal engagement between the king and his genetic cousin/adopted sister, was well known across the island kingdom. If Kaolla ran away from such an engagement…!

_This is a mess!_ the former royal nanny mused to herself.

Kaolla needed a chance to be healed of her wounds.

She had to be kept clear of all attempts to force magical healing on her; given that she was a ruby meson-powered metahuman, the special anti-Cruciatus potion Surya Patha was in the midst of preparing wouldn't be truthfully effective for Kaolla in the long term. What was worse, if Surya used ingredients grown in Molmol — infused with ebony meson radiation…and possibly particles of the stuff as well if grown out of the soil of the Kasi Mountains — the clash of the two types of meson in Kaolla's body might kill her. Especially if she was exposed to the Crimson Moon anytime afterwards and transformed into adult form.

What was even worse, Surya — while no doubt acting out of a desire to help a grieving child get over the loss of her parents; Tirtha wouldn't be sure if such an act was done out of basic ignorance until she cornered the Royal Wizard and telepathically scanned her — had taken Kaolla into the Windy Desert shortly after her parents died. There, she used magic — in following old legends about the Desert and its ability to bestow special powers on members of the Molmolite royalty, a theory that had been "proven" thanks to Amalla's own abilities, which had first woken when she was a teen — to induce the first-ever transformation of the young princess to adult form as a way to give Kaolla the strength to get over her loss and prepare her for her future as Lamba Lu's wife.

Doing THAT to an eleven year-old child caused Kaolla's inner soul to fracture, inducing a sort of split-personality in her, each side anchored to the forms her body could take: The playful child princess and the adult who was destined to become Queen Consort on her marrying the King.

Even more so, since Kaolla WAS a metahuman, she needed training specifically geared to help her master her self-transformation and psychokinesis abilities.

Training that could NOT be fulfilled by a magical school or magical teacher.

Unfortunately, given Surya's confidence in her own knowledge and experience — which, thanks to her social standing in Molmol, guaranteed that anyone who dared tried to question her wisdom would be at the very least ignored if not openly scorned on — in magic, trying to make the veteran of World War Two see what she might end up doing to Kaolla was like people in Britain during the 1980s and 1990s trying to persuade Albus Dumbledore to NOT use poor Harry Potter as a living sacrifice to finally destroy Lord Voldemort.

After all, the Neuwied Test — invented by a _**German**_ in the early 1980s and used around the world — was NOT seen as an acceptable form of magical detection on Molmol!

There was no way that even a sorceress like Tāng Wéi — an official government representative of a country that had recognized Molmol as an independent nation-state — could persuade the Royal Wizard to open her eyes to the truth.

Which meant…

"Make an accident happen."

Tirtha jolted before she gazed on the woman seated across from her. "Excuse me?"

Wéi grinned. "Make an accident happen. After all, she _is_ a woman."

The Elder Mother of the Avalonians on Molmol gaped…

* * *

Hinata, the Forbidden Annex behind the Hinata-sō, an hour after breakfast…

A tired moan escaped the smiling woman in the futon located in one of the old guest suites on the second floor of the Annex as she slowly pulled herself out from under the covers. As she took a deep breath to get some fresh oxygen into her after a wonderful sleep in her fiancé's arms in the wake of a couple hours of passionate lovemaking, Karumi could only grin like an idiot as her body ached in that wonderful way that told her that Keitarō clearly understood now what his future duties as her husband were.

_Definitely the Gojūni Sanji_, the reborn general of Cáo Wèi mused to herself as she reached over for the special neck choker that had been given to her by Taeko shortly after she had woken in her new body. Pausing to gaze upon it, Karumi then smiled as her eyes teared on remembering how much Kyōsuke hadn't cared at all for the horrid stutter that the Kyoshō alumnus had been born with…as had all prior incarnations of Dèng Ài had been cursed with since his first life in the Third Century. Of course, thanks to the bond that forever locked her heart and soul with that of Kyōsuke's grandnephew, Karumi's new fiancé knew of that stutter that always hit her when she spoke out any of the plosive sounds. Just like Kyōsuke, Keitarō hadn't cared a damned bit about that sort of stutter…and he — just like he had done to Maehara Shinobu to help the young girl gain a renewed sense of self-confidence in the wake of her parents' divorce — had told her that they would work together to help her finally overcome that sort of thing.

«All problems can be overcome, Karumi-vayae,» that warm voice echoed inside her head as she heard footfalls from the hallway outside. «All we need is to find the solution.»

She perked…and then smiled as she sat up just as he walked in, dressed in a housecoat, a tea tray in hand. "Ohayō," she called out to him with a smile.

He knelt beside her, placing the tray down on the floor before he sat on the futon to draw his nude fiancée into his arms. She smiled as she breathed in the heady musk of his own body and the scents hinting at the sex they had enjoyed the previous evening, her own body shivering in anticipation for a potential repeat performance. "Ohayō," he whispered into her ear before turning to gently devour her lips with his own.

Karumi purred as she pulled Keitarō down atop her, inwardly smiling as she felt the hard rod of his manliness press against her groin, her legs spreading in anticipation of another bout of thorough lovemaking. She was quick to sense him wanting to hold back this time, though. That was understandable, of course; much that both could barely sense the extra power of the Annex's magic binding them even more closely together, the old building would be torn down today to make room for more private cottages, including their new residence.

Still, it would be nice to forget more pressing needs…

They slowly pulled apart before a grin crossed his face. "Breakfast?"

"I c-c-could-d-d use some," she stuttered out, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

He gave her a warm kiss of reassurance before he shifted over to prepare a cup of tea for her. She reached over to draw up her own housecoat to slip over her shoulders, and then she reached for the choker to slip around her neck. Karumi then smiled as he gave her the tea. "They're getting the parts for the other cottages made up right now in space," he reported as he moved to make his own tea. "Tanya-san will start having them beamed down in an hour. Negako-san used the soulsword to burn away the magic of the old shrine that sorcerer set up here early this morning before she headed off for the day."

"Did she teach you that?" she asked with a twinkle in her eye.

He blinked before nodding. "I wanted it to be right for our first time," he confessed. "My first time ever, yours in your new body. After what you went through — and after all I've gone through thinking about Narusegawa-san and her being the promise girl — well…" A shrug before he then smiled. "Oh, Negako-san found something."

She perked. "What?"

Grateful that Negako had also taught him how to temporarily mask certain thoughts from his bond-mate to permit him to surprise her, Keitarō reached into his housecoat pocket to draw up a small box. On seeing that, Karumi's breath caught in her throat as memories of forty years ago — which, to her, now seemed just like yesterday; Taeko had, as a mercy to the poor woman, suppressed the memories she had of the seemingly endless darkness of her imprisonment in the tunnels under the Hinata-sō — and a beautiful night just like last night had played out…

Slipping out the beautiful engagement ring from the box, he then gently slid it onto her right ring finger. "Dō Karumi, will you do me the honour of being my wife?"

She blinked as she felt the surge of desire and hope flood her mind through their bond, and then began to shudder as overwhelming joy came over her. A sobbing "**_YES!_**" found her in his embrace as she began to weep…

* * *

The waterfront of Ninomiya (twenty-five kilometres north-of-west from Hinata)…

A groan escaped the lanky man in his late teens who had fallen asleep atop one of the containers located inside the warehouse next to the Seishō By-pass overlooking the harbour of this small bedroom community and fishing port on the north shore of Sagami Bay. Inwardly grateful that his lover's family owned this warehouse — while those of his schoolmates had long got used to his odd sleeping habits, most of the normal people in Ninomiya just wouldn't understand the pull towards the open sea that had influenced him for years — so that he could be close to the soothing sounds of waves gently rolling in, he picked himself up, reaching up to gently rub the shaggy head of neck-length flaming red hair he possessed. With that, he got up, then effortlessly leapt down from his sleeping perch to the floor several metres below, landing with ease as he moved to work the kinks in his body. Once he felt reasonably limber, the current leader of the Phoenixes of Cáo Wèi made his way to the main door…

…only to see his own lover seated just past the doorway in her wheelchair, her eyes awash in tears as she tried not to totally break down and weep. Instantly, he was at her side and moving to comfort. "Hey! Hey! What's wrong, Chūtatsu?" he gently whispered.

She gazed up to him. "Shisai…!"

That made the man born Tsukasa Torusuke — known better as "Sōsō Mōtoku" — gape…

******_To be continued…_**

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) **Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis** (**ALS**) — known in America as **Lou Gehrig's Disease** due to its most well-known victim, New York Yankees batting legend **Lou "The Iron Horse" Gehrig** (1903-41); in the British Commonwealth, it is often called **Motor Neurone Disease** — is a debilitating disease with varied symptoms such as rapidly progressive weakness, muscle atrophy and fasciculations, muscle spasticity, difficulty speaking, difficulty swallowing and difficulty breathing. ALS can sometimes be caused due to genetic defects inherited from one's ancestors; this form of familial ALS only occurs in about five percent of known cases. As for the other ninety-five percent of known victims, there is no known cause. There is also no known cure for ALS; those who are struck down by it either die early in life or are effectively crippled for life. In _Ikkitōsen_, the character of **Ryofu Hōsen** (in _Phoenix From the Ashes_, I give her the name **Sebone Shikuko**) is a victim of ALS; she ultimately chooses suicide with her lover **Chinkyū Kōdai** (**Noberu Miyako**) rather than be permanently crippled.

One of the most well-known modern victims of a motor neuron disease similar to ALS is the famous British theoretical scientist and cosmologist **Stephen Hawking** (born 1942), who is forced these days to live in a wheelchair, speaks through a computer speech machine and requires almost constant care by his family and friends. He is the person Agni Yajna speaks of to Tirtha Sapta here.

2) **Ruby Meson** is a form of mesonium that is as dense as ebony meson, but doesn't unleash the horrid psychological effects the latter version of meson forces on its victims.

3) The **Übermenschen Gruppe** is my play-off on **Axis Amerika**, the metahuman team that was first introduced in the _Young All-Stars_ comic series published in the mid-1980s by DC Comics. Their creator, **Josef Wilhelm _Freiherr_ von Taserich**, is an immortal in the same manner as Hosan Hirosuke (introduced in Part Three). His birth-name is unknown to this day; the name he is known by is the Prussian noble name he assumed during the years that kingdom existed on the southeast corner of the Baltic Sea. He was quite older than Master Hosan, having well passed ten thousand years of age when Hosan himself was born five thousand years ago. While his fate post-World War Two is a mystery, it is believed he is still alive. Like Hosan, Taserich's blood is filled with crystals of ebony meson. He is notorious amongst magicals and other mystics on Earth for allowing other people to be injected with ebony meson into their blood stream to give them metahuman powers.

4) Translations: **HyperNet** — Short for "Hyperspace Internet," this will be a version of the Internet with transmission speeds of Warp 15 (759,375 times the speed of light; in my stories, warp factor measurements are always to the fifth power) thanks to meson transmission crystals in dataPADDs and other such computer units, thus effectively negating the need for data download limits; **Qípáo** — The proper name for what is normally called a "cheongsam" or "Mandarin gown"; **Rei'cha** — Formal Sagussan term for one's child; **Mei'na** — One's soul, all that is not of the physical body; **Freiherr** — Literally "free lord," this is the German nobility version of a British baron; **Vayae** — Literally "my beloved," the standard suffix honorific term of endearment used between lovers on Sagussa.

5) **Sanford "Sandy" Koufax** (born 1935) was a famous left-handed pitcher for the Brooklyn (later Los Angeles) Dodgers in Major League Baseball; he played for the team from 1955-66. The youngest player ever elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame (he was inducted in 1972 at age 36), his performace peaked during the 1961-66 playing seasons before arthritis ended his career. Thought I personally am not a fan of any sport, I did learn of him thanks to the popular 1994 PBS documentary mini-series _Baseball_; I came to like the various works of **Ken Burns** (born 1953) thanks to his seminal documentary _The Civil War_, which came out on PBS in 1990.

6) I created the **Dejima School of Wizardry and Witchcraft** as the Japanese counterpart of Hogwarts for _The Icemaidens and the Philosopher's Stone_. In the universe of this story, the Dejima School — sited at the only place where contact with the European powers was permitted by the Shōgun once a year during the Tokugawa period — became the centre of European-style wand magical knowledge…though it has to compete with the various regional **Magical Associations** (as introduced in _Negima_) and their training institutions for students. As an aside, the **Masters Class** is Dejima's equivalent to NEWT classes at Hogwarts; those who leave the school at the same level as Hogwarts students who only graduate with their OWLs are part of the **Graduates Class**.

Also, Surya Patha's former mistress Yomigawa Tsukiko (introduced in Part One) was NOT a Dejima graduate.

7) The **Steel Angels** mentioned here are the same people from the _Kōtetsu Tenshi Kurumi_ manga and anime series created by the **Kaishaku** team (Ōta Hitoshi and Shichinohe Terumasa) released around the turn of the millennium. One of these beautiful gynoid warriors, the "Angel of Destruction" **Kaga** (I give her the full name **Shichinohe Kaga**, using the name of her character designer in the manga series as her family name; most likely, Kaga's designer was Shichinohe Terumasa himself), is Moroboshi Negako's world-be girlfriend; the two would finally reunite in Part 53 of _Phoenix From the Ashes_.

8) **Kūnlún Pài** (literally "Kūnlún Sect") is a fictional school of Chinese martial arts that was said to have first appeared in the Kūnlún Mountains during the time of the mythological Zhōu Dynasty (1046-256 B.C.E.). This particular sect of martial artists often appeared in various **Wǔxiá** ("martial hero") tales that have been spoken and written of in China over the last two millennia. Practitioners of the Kūnlún school of martial arts follow a strict orthodox form of conduct based on Taoist philosophies; one of the mythological founders of this school was the famous founder of Taoism himself, **Lǎozǐ** (known more commonly as "Lao Tzu" from the Wade-Giles Romanization of his name). However, the Kūnlún School also does not force its students to adhere to vegetarian diets and allows them to marry; the school does take in both male and female students.

9) As Akamatsu-sensei based the landscapes of Molmol's capital city on the city of **İstanbul** in Turkey, it made sense to me that many of the natives of the island were Muslim; this was the reason I stated earlier in the story that the Molmolites themselves were partially descent from Indian explorers and settlers who came to the island during the time the **Mughal Dynasty** (1526-1857) ruled the Subcontinent. As an aside, the **Khurram Mosque** at the west end of King Laran Park in Molmol City is named in tribute to the most famous ruler of the Mughal Empire, **Shah Jahan** (1592-1666, ruled 1628-58), the man who arranged to have the **Taj Mahal** built in the city of Agra as a mausoleum to his beloved third wife, **Mumtaz Mahal** (1593-1631).

10) The **Seeker's Forge** — the original source-point of all mesonium in the universe — is a Moon-sized ball of the material where all the Power Jewels in existence were forged three billion years ago. The remnants of the Forge — after colliding with a nearby planet — eventually became the core of **Yiziba**. The Forge — now called the **Great Crystal of Power** — is the source-point of all metahuman abilities possessed by the Yizibajohei.

11) The **Gojūni Sanji** (literally "Fifty-two Mountain Temples") is my take-off on a running joke that has appeared quite often in _The Destroyer_ series of action adventure novels created in 1971 by the team of Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir: The **Steps to Sexual Fulfilment**, which is one of the various sub-schools of the **Sinanju** (which, given the word is supposed to be Korean, should be spelt "_Shinanju_") school of martial arts as taught to lead character **Remo Williams** by the current grandmaster, **Chiun**. For a wonderful demonstration of the Steps and how it can affect those the practitioner targets, please read the really funny story _Harry Potter and the Sun Source_ by **Clell Harmon** (listed at this website as "Clell65619"), marked as one of my favourites at this website.

12) Dèng Ài was known for his pronounced stutter and often was hazed by his peers because of it. He would later turn this affliction to his advantage when speaking with his superiors, who often regarded his curious stuttering as jokes or witty expressions. In this incarnation, Dō Karumi always stutters when she speaks any of the **plosive** (also known as "stop") consonant sounds. These sounds include the voiced velar stop (the "g" in _gaggle_), the voiceless velar stop (the "k" in _kiss_); the voiced alveolar stop (the "d" in _admit_), the voiceless alveolar stop (the "t" in _tick_), the voiced bilabial stop (the "b" in _aback_) and the voiceless bilabial stop (the "p" in _pack_).

13) _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

**Sōsō Mōtoku** (**Tsukasa Torusuke**) first made his appearance in manga episode #30 and his background was described in Part 18 of _Phoenix From the Ashes_.

His lover is **Shiba'i Chūtatsu** (**Tsukasame Yoiko**), first appeared in manga episode #55 and her background was described in Part 16 of _PFtA_.


	8. Family Reunions In Space!

Space Factory #319, after breakfast…

"Papa…Papa…you came back…!"

Horie Haruhiko shushed his sobbing daughter as he — keeping in mind that Narusegawa Naru was temporarily paralysed from the neck down to allow Shiina Kaoru the chance to regenerate the poor teenager's neurons without driving her totally mad with pain — gently held her bruised face close to his. Also in the room at this time was Ogasawara Iori; she was busy setting up a small grove of get well cards and presents on a nearby table, all prepared and purchased by Naru's classmates at Hinata High School over the last couple of days.

When Naru had woken up shortly before dawn, she had been totally stunned to find herself on a SPACE STATION of all things…especially one orbiting Earth at a much higher altitude than what would seem proper given worldwide exposure to low-orbital platforms such as the International Space Station. Fortunately, before she went into a wild panic — which wouldn't have got her anywhere thanks to her current state of immobility — Kaoru had come to her side right away to give the wounded Hinata High senior the full briefing on the Avalonians, the Niphentaxians and Wednesday evening's events. While overwhelmed at the idea that several of her best friends from high school were honest-to-goodness ALIENS of all things, Naru found it quite easy to make herself still see Iori and the other Hinata Avalonians she knew of personally as human beings even if they were all laboratory-born. When Iori came up to see her, she gave Naru the chance to enjoy her first ever _mind-meld_…which allowed her to view some ugly memories of Iori's friends being verbally abused by their former masters and mistresses over the last four years; it actually shocked Naru that Iori herself — who had once been the slave of Mizote Toshiko's own brother Tarash dai-Joranth — had always been treated so well. On mentally viewing that, the former top-ranked university aspirant in Japan could only feel sympathy for what her friends had gone through…not to mention feel relieved beyond belief that they were now finally free of such madness. Even if she found it really hard to accept that one of the people who had liberated them was _**Moroboshi Ataru**_…who, despite what he had done the previous summer when he faced off against his would-be "wife" in Tomobiki in a game of tag to avert an invasion of the planet by the Oni, was a man Naru saw as a pervert a million times worse than she often saw Urashima Keitarō as!

"Sorry I was gone for so long," the Toyota executive apologized as he moved to sit down beside her while Iori finished with getting the presents all set up. He then waved the pretty yet studious-looking girl to sit down on the other side of Naru's diagnostic bed. "But try as I might to get even visitation rights with you, your mother wouldn't bend at all. She wouldn't even allow me to come see you after you moved to Hinata; she was pretty strict about that when she signed the lease agreement with your former landlady. When the people at Hinata City Hall tried to contact her to tell her what happened, she just started making demand after demand, not even giving the person calling her a chance to explain what had happened to you and where you were at the time. So they had no choice but to call me."

Naru smiled as she saw Iori gently grasp her right hand. "Glad they did…" she said as she gazed fondly on a man she feared for a long time that she would never see again in this lifetime. "Did Shiina-sensei bring you up here to see me?"

"Hai, she did. Even brought up Motoko-chan's sister and Mitsune-chan's aunt; they all got the calls as well." On seeing Naru's eyes widen, Haruhiko chuckled. "I take it Motoko-chan's told you all sorts of horror stories about Tsuruko-san." As his daughter slowly nodded, he breathed out, "She is upset at her over all the stunts Motoko-chan's pulled on your landlord over the last year, but she's more concerned now about seeing her sister healthy and back on her feet as soon as possible. Which Kaoru-sensei guarantees might happen by the end of next week." A holographic chronometer on the picture window showing Earth displayed the date and time. "Which gives you enough time to finish off your last classes at Hinata High, then crack the books for another try at the Centre Test next January." He gazed on Iori. "I hope you pass that as well, Iori-chan."

"I'll do my best, Oji-san," Iori promised.

Naru beamed on hearing his encouraging words to both herself and her friend. She then sighed. "Well, even if I was distracted by helping Keitarō study for his third try at the Centre Test, I think I can do it this time around." She barely shook her head as she added, "I just can't understand how he's been able to live with himself all this time. He'll be a rōnin for three years when the next Centre Test comes…"

"Don't be so hard on the man," Haruhiko gently scolded. "I needed three tries to get into Nagoya University myself." On seeing Naru gape in shock at him, he smirked. "I wanted to go into the same university Toyota-shachō himself went to when he was that age. Felt it would give me a far better chance to get a job at the company." Seeing her nod in understanding — university applicants in Japan often did select specific institutions to give them better chances at getting the dream job they wanted…and besides, Meidai ranked in the top level of Japanese universities right alongside Tōdai; there was nothing at all for her father to be ashamed about! — he then sighed. "Much that I'm very impressed by you gunning for the top university in the country once you get past the Centre Test hurdle, don't be disappointed if you don't get the marks for Tōdai." He winked at her. "Iori-chan here told me about your crush on Seta-sensei." Seeing Naru madly blush, he smirked. "Did you know he needed three tries to get into Tōdai himself?" he then teased as he winked at Iori.

"**_IORI!_**" Naru yelped…and then she stopped. "Wait! Seta-sensei…?!"

"Needed three goes at the Centre Test to get into Tōdai," Iori finished for her friend; they — along with several of their classmates, including two of the Hinata Avalonians, Kazama Narumi and Endō Chika — had all taken private lessons from Seta Noriyasu during their second year at Hinata High. "Hai, it's true. Our masters were really fascinated by that sort of dedication to punch all the way to the top that people like Sensei and Keitarō-kun show." She then bowed her eyes. "You as well, Naru," she then whispered as her eyes teared.

"Don't cry," Naru pleaded, wishing she had control over her arms and hands so she could give Iori a good hug and let her poor friend cry her eyes out.

"It's hard," the other woman hoarsely admitted as she wiped her eyes. "You're a beautiful person, Naru. I've been attracted to you both physically and mentally since the day we first met." She then leaned up to gently kiss her friend's cheek in reassurance after seeing Naru blush on hearing such a passionate declaration. "I hated it when I was forced to mind-probe you and the other girls in our class. I…" She shrugged. "Well, once you get out of here finally, we'll go back to the Hinata-sō and I'll let you ravage me to your heart's content to make it even! Okay?!"

Mega-blush time! "**_IORI!_**"

Haruhiko laughed as Iori gave him a knowing wink. "Don't be offended, Naru-chan!" he then said before he seemed to puff with pride at still being seen as "manly" at his age. "Why, a lot of the older girls on the station here started hitting on me the moment I beamed aboard!"

Naru's cheeks were now at the **Don't Point That at MY Planet!** stage. "**_PAPA!_**"

Both of Naru's visitors laughed as the wounded girl huffed and puffed at their teasing…though she then smiled when her father leaned over to give her a reassuring kiss on the forehead, then moved back to allow her friend to give her a tender kiss on the lips, accompanied with a quick burst of empathy to reassure Naru they were just pulling her leg. Once Haruhiko and Iori calmed down, Naru then gazed on her friend. "So all of you are going to live in the dorm right now, right?" she asked. "Keitarō's letting you move in?"

"Hai, all of us," Iori said with a nod. "It'll require the building to be torn down and completely rebuilt into a more efficient setup to allow as many of us as possible to be under one roof, but he's willing to let us all move in. That'll free up our old places of residence to allow any of our sisters up here and elsewhere — once the government gives the all-clear — the chance to move into town so they can start up lives of their own. The reconstruction of the main building will be started tomorrow, so your stuff will be moved up here for safekeeping until it's okay to move it back. From what I saw about what Kana's — she's the computer studies teacher at the Ōgusu Seminar and our group's tech guru — already designed for the main building, you'll end up having a little more space for yourself than what you have right now."

"Why rebuild the whole building?" Naru asked. "It's in good shape."

"Not as much as you might like to think," Iori warned. "Especially when you've got a very powerful kendō-ka in residence with self-discipline issues who doesn't realize what all her attacks so close to the building have done to the weight-bearing frames…not to mention an out-of-control little mad genius inventor who loves setting off pretty powerful explosives close to that building as well. When Tanya Lipińsky — she's one of Kaoru's sisters from the village on Phentax Twenty-one; she's a fully-trained systems engineer — did a thorough survey of the property, she was pretty amazed that the whole place hadn't long ago dropped down on all your collective heads."

Naru winced. She doubted that Motoko would like hearing that news when it was relayed to her. As for Kaolla, it was hard to tell, especially with the young foreigner's mad exuberance when it came to "playing" with people. "So how strong will the building be now?" she asked. "Will it be enough to withstand earthquakes and all that?"

"Full proper building codes for a high natural disaster threat zone; they have them on Phentax Two and all the colonies, too. The main structural frames will be built out of duranium, which is what goes into starship and starbase hulls." As Naru gaped at her, Iori added, "Even better, all the interior panelling, floorboards and furniture will be re-used; for those places where there might be not enough to cover the walls or floor, new panelling and floorboards can be replicated up here. You'll hardly notice the difference. Except the hole between your room and Taeko-sama's room being gone once and for all." As Naru gave her a curious look, Iori added, "She doesn't want anyone intruding on her when she's busy doing things…and I'm sure you'll like the extra privacy, especially from people accidentally popping up through your floor and peeping into your room while you're changing clothes."

Naru blinked as she took that in, and then she asked, "Who's Taeko?"

"Urashima Taeko-sama," Haruhiko stated. "She'll be your new landlady."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"Um…what about Keitarō?" Naru then asked. "And who's this Taeko anyway?! Is she some relative of his I don't know about?"

"Keitarō-kun will be living in a private cabin that's being built today on the site of that annex hall at the back of the property," Haruhiko stated. "As for Taeko-sama, she's his adopted older sister. Genetically, she's an Avalonian, cloned right from his DNA onto one of the spare bodies Iori-chan's people had available. In her mind, she's a Korean tokkaebi — their version of a tsukumogami — that was brought to Japan many years ago against her will in a fireplace poker stolen from her old home by one of Keitarō-kun's ancestors. When he met her fifteen years ago while he was staying at the Hinata-sō — it was the same time you were there to recover from your leukaemia — and found her in the storage room, he got her story…then eventually adopted her as his 'Nuna-ya.'" As Naru gaped in shock at him, clearly surprised that Keitarō had befriended a Korean version of a _**tsukumogami**_ of all things — she had long suspected there was another tsukumogami somewhere in the Hinata-sō, a French bisque doll that had been purchased years ago by one of Keitarō's relatives, but hadn't confirmed it — he smiled. "That's like Keitarō-kun calling Taeko-sama 'Onē-chan.'" As she nodded in understanding — she had long been impressed by her would-be boyfriend's Korean language skills; it was one of the few things he was able to tutor her on when they studied together — her father sighed. "So that will effectively resolve all the issues you and the other girls have had when it comes to having a man be your manager after you were pretty much guaranteed something like that wouldn't happen by Hina-san. As soon as all the paperwork's done on Monday, Taeko-sama will officially be your new landlady. With her magic matched up to the Avalonians' technology, all future repair issues at the Hinata-sō will be dealt with pretty quickly and without any real expenditure costs. That will bring down the rent I'll start paying for your room in April quite a bit. I don't know what it'll be, though."

Naru took a moment to absorb all that information. Like the other girls who had been living at the Hinata-sō when Keitarō entered their lives, she had become used to the idea of him being the manager of the dorm house. Yes, there were all the idiot stunts he pulled that embarrassed the hell out of her and the others at times, but he did focus all his energy into making the place habitable and comfortable for them…which he did atop working as hard as he could to pass the Centre Test and finally do the entrance examination for Tōkyō University. She appreciated it deep down even if she was loath to admit such feelings in public, especially to him. But to believe that Keitarō was willing now to effectively _abandon_ his duties to the old hot springs hotel after putting a year's worth of hard work into the place…and while she did inwardly appreciate that he was moving to get a woman to take over as manager/landlady…!

"Does Obā-chan know?!" she wondered.

Both her visitors shook their heads. "Keitarō's been trying to contact his grandmother about a very important thing concerning the Hinata-sō for the last half-year, Naru," Iori then said. "It's concerning property taxes that have to be paid to the city government before the start of the new fiscal year in April." As Naru gazed at her, her friend added, "On the order of _**forty-five million yen**_."

"If he can't pay it, you would ALL be evicted from the Hinata-sō when the property was seized by the police," Haruhiko added as he gave his daughter a knowing look.

Naru blinked before she breathed out. She did remember her stepfather moaning and complaining about property taxes paid to the Toshima Ward offices every year. She then winced as the amount Iori quoted came back to her. "Forty-five million yen…?"

"Hai," her friend affirmed with a nod. "Fortunately, Keitarō was able to get a bank loan to pay that off. But until we got involved, he felt he had no choice but to reopen the dorm as a hotel to get paying customers onto the property. You know what Kitsune did to him, don't you?" As Naru winced again on being reminded of those incidents — much that she did like Keitarō's helpful nature, his inability to say "no" to Konno Mitsune when she asked for loans to go bet on horse races had been embarrassing to watch — Iori added, "That's why he also came to feel that his grandmother abandoned the property when she went off on her retirement." As another wince twisted Naru's face on hearing that Keitarō had come to feel THAT about his grandmother, Iori sighed. "So he's going to court on Monday to have the property legally transferred into his name."

That statement made Naru instantly pale as the implications of Keitarō doing _**that**_ immediately hit home. While he had sometimes muttered in the past about evicting the girls from the dorm house after he had been beaten up by Naru, Motoko or Kaolla, he hadn't really followed through on that threat…until two weeks ago after that ugly incident with Mizote Toshiko saw Naru put into the hospital for a broken wrist. Then the threats — even if they had actually been voiced by Toshiko and those of her friends she enticed to come date the man — started coming on an almost daily basis, which really worried Naru and her friends. _Especially_ since Keitarō didn't make his new friends stop saying those things…which was a _big_ indicator to the tenants of the Hinata-sō that the landlord was seriously contemplating such a move. Naru knew that if she was forced out of the dorm, she would have no choice but to return to an effectively loveless home near Ikebukuro Station in Tōkyō, dominated by a mother who simply didn't care about her anymore, having switched the love she once gave wholeheartedly to Naru to her husband and stepdaughter. Yes, Hina had — before she had left the old hot spring hotel for her retirement — verbally promised to Naru that she had nothing to worry about when it came to being forced out of her current place of residence…but if Keitarō now felt it necessary to go to the _courts_ to legally become owner of the Hinata-sō…!

"He's kicking us out, isn't he…?" she then whimpered as her eyes teared.

Her father shook his head. "No, he isn't."

Naru blinked. "But Papa…"

He sighed. "Naru-chan," Haruhiko breathed out. "While I am disappointed in you because of your behaviour concerning that man over the last year, he feels that evicting you and the other girls who were living there at the time he became manager would be the wrong thing to do." As Naru gaped on hearing that, he added, "That's why he was able to talk Taeko-sama into becoming the new manager. Taeko-sama has known all along what each of you girls are really like deep down." Another sigh escaped him. "Look, when she retired from running the Hinata-sō, did Keitarō-kun's grandmother even HINT that he was coming to take her place as manager?"

Naru shook her head. "No, she didn't…"

He nodded. "In Keitarō-kun's eyes, that was wrong. It was wrong of Hina-san to not even ASK him if he wanted to be the manager of the Hinata-sō when she invited him to come stay at the place last spring. It was also wrong of her to not warn him ahead of time that the hotel had become an all-girl's dorm house. And it was very wrong of her to not consider _**your**_ feelings on the matter, to say anything of your friends' feelings. It was WRONG!" Here, the automotive company executive took a deep breath. "I know you've got problems with him. He understands that. And yes, he's angry at you for flying to conclusions about him, always disrespecting his position as your landlord. I don't think he really sees you as his _friend_ deep down anymore." Hearing THAT made Naru wince. "That's part of the reason he talked Taeko-sama into coming out of the fireplace poker she had been in for so long and allow herself to become like Iori-chan here." He indicated Naru's friend with a wave of his hand. "You'll get a woman as landlady and manager, which will make things a lot easier for you. He gets control over his life back after Hina-san forced him into becoming the manager of that place, which distracts him from studying for the Centre Test. You both come out winners in this. Not to mention all your friends as well." He smirked as he nodded to Iori. "And your girlfriend gets to live with you. Winners all around."

Naru blinked as she considered that…

* * *

In a neighbouring room…

"Ane-ue, if that is a joke, it's NOT funny!"

Aoyama Tsuruko took a deep breath. She was standing now at the window of her sister's recovery suite, staring out at the planet in the near distance. "Do I look like I'm joking, Motoko?" the elder Shinmei-ryū kendō-ka of the Aoyama of Heian calmly said.

Now lying on her own bed as her mind nearly crashed from the ugly revelation her sister just dropped on her head, Motoko tried not to give in to a childish bout of mortal terror and scream her head off at the idea of soon facing the _**Destroyer of Kyōto**_ herself. Who had been finally freed of her four-century imprisonment in the Yōkatana Hinata, then allowed to become an Avalonian…and the ADOPTED SISTER to **_Urashima Keitarō_** to boot!

Were the Kami truly _**this**_ cruel?!

"Is there anything that can be done?!" Motoko pleaded.

The older woman shook her head. "No. The Heavenly Sovereign has forbidden any action against Taeko-sama. Our hosts won the full support of both Tsukuyomi-sama and Negako-sama — not surprising in the latter case given that she has an Avalonian body herself; how else would Ataru-san have been able to see the Promise of Bunka Go-nen finally fulfilled last month? — when the Noukiites came to remove those Niphentaxian monsters from Earth. Tsukuyomi-sama and Negako-sama persuaded the Heavenly Sovereign to give his full support to the Avalonians' desire to seek new lives for themselves on Earth, which will also help us finally become masters of our own space in the wake of those Oni monsters coming here last summer and disrespecting us like they did." As Motoko nodded in understanding — given the loyalty all of the Aoyama Clan felt for the Son of Heaven, there was no questioning any decision _**he**_ made…even in something as earthshaking as THIS! — Tsuruko added, "Because of what Keitarō-san did to win Taeko-sama's love and loyalty over the years, he was able to talk her into becoming an Avalonian herself, making her the Urashima Clan's rough equivalent to Negako-sama's position vis-à-vis the Moroboshi Clan. And given what your own friend from the Mikasa School went through…"

Her sister nodded. Unlike Naru when it came to Iori, Motoko hadn't been visited by her Avalonian classmate from Mikasa Girls Senior and Junior High School, Sakurada Tamao; she was still down in Hinata. Motoko had found it easy to accept her alien-born classmate for what she truthfully was — Shiina Kaoru had been quite thorough in showing the young kendō-ka through a mind-meld about how overwhelming the genetic loyalty lock controls that had been put into each Avalonian's very DNA had been, thus compelling Tamao to spy on her beloved friend at the order of her master…even if doing such had been agonizingly painful for the young track-and-field star to endure — but would have actually appreciated Tamao visiting her when she had woken up on this space station. She had found the events of the last three days and more simply overwhelming. Being a woman who had been raised relatively isolated from modern Japanese civilization, Motoko found a lot of the things her peers accepted as normal utterly bizarre to understand. Being aboard a great SPACE STATION — and one the size of a small TOWN to boot! — at this time…!

But to live with someone like Urashima Taeko as her new manager/landlady…?!

"Is there some way to convince Urashima to stay as landlord?"

Tsuruko sighed. Right from the start, she had feared Motoko's quasi-androphobic attitudes — which had exploded when Tsuruko had married her husband Iizuka Shōzō, thus effectively forcing the future of the Aoyama Shinmei-ryū on very young shoulders — would lead to something like what had happened to Urashima Keitarō over the last year…though she had not voiced such concerns when her parents made their private agreement with Urashima Hina to allow Motoko to remain at the former hot spring hotel near Yokosuka to "give her some breathing space." It actually wouldn't surprise Tsuruko now if her sister came to see the transformation of the tokkaebi T'aeja of Chosŏn into the Terran-form Avalonian Urashima Taeko as a vile plot by Keitarō to unleash all sorts of vengeance on the young kendō-ka for all the times Motoko had attacked him! She would have to disabuse Motoko of such thinking very quickly; it was clearly obvious that Keitarō's tolerance towards the young kendō-ka had come to a final end and he really wanted nothing to do with her anymore.

Fortunately…

"Do you realize Keitarō-san is doing this because he cares for you all?" Tsuruko then asked. "And he feels that his being forced to become the manager of the Hinata-sō was imposed on you — not to mention your friends — without any consideration for _**your**_ feelings?"

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"Ane-ue…!" a stunned Motoko gasped, surprised to hear THAT from her sister.

Which was understandable.

Despite her slowly getting used to the idea of having a _man_ of all things as the manager of the Hinata-sō, Motoko still thought the worst of Urashima Keitarō. All his actions when it came to the women at the dorm — especially someone as young as Maehara Shinobu — were always suspect, which made Motoko always vigilant when it came to everything he did. And while she hadn't appreciated having her wrist broken by Mizote Toshiko — to say anything of all the abuse the bōsōzoku girl and her friends had heaped over the kendō-ka after that particular incident — when Toshiko had walked Keitarō home to the Hinata-sō after her accident on the Hinata-dōri, Motoko remained determined to do all that was possible to ensure the stupid, vile man would know his place and not do anything perverted or dishonourable to any woman that crossed his path.

Though right now, such determination was wilting in the face of a tsunami of pure **_terror_** on the idea of facing Keitarō's newly-adopted sister Taeko.

Yet to hear THAT…!

"It's true," Tsuruko said as she turned to gaze on her sister. "Think it through, Motoko. When she left for her retirement vacation, did Hina-san — in any way, shape or form — indicate that her grandson was coming to replace her as manager?"

Motoko blinked before shaking her head. "No."

"Did she even ask you — much less the others — about your opinion about what sort of manager you would like to have had stand in Hina-san place?"

Another shake of the head answered her. "No. Haruka-san served as the _ryōbo_ of the Hinata-sō after Obā-sama left, so we felt that all was well in the long term. Obā-sama said nothing at all about her grandson coming to the dorm, let alone becoming the new landlord."

Tsuruko hummed. "So clearly, you were all taken quite by surprise when the property deed to the Hinata-sō was mailed to Keitarō-san, along with the power of attorney papers that bestowed all the duties and responsibilities of being manager on him. Is that right?"

Motoko nodded. "Hai."

The elder woman sighed. "So — much that I wish he would have chosen someone else other than Taeko-sama to become his successor — doesn't it seem the right thing to do for Keitarō-san to alleviate the original injury unto you and your friends by finding a _woman_ to take his place as manager of the Hinata-sō?" Tsuruko then asked.

Her sister considered that for a moment before nodding. "Hai. But…!"

A knowing smirk crossed the older woman's face. "You're scared, aren't you?"

Motoko jerked. "No! I'm not scared! I…!"

An amused laugh escaped Tsuruko. "Motoko-chan, relax!" she playfully scolded. "It's alright to admit you're petrified of being in the same building as Taeko-sama! Especially now that she's been freed of the imprisonment the Immortal Master forced on her and has full control of her magic to boot!" As Motoko gaped in horror on realizing that she would soon be facing a being potentially possessing a _**sorceress**_' level of power in Urashima Taeko, the older woman breathed out, "If it was me facing that choice, I would flee for Kyōto at once!"

The younger woman's mouth opened and closed several times — making her look like a fish breathing in water to get oxygen forced through its gills — as she tried not to freak out at the idea of her older sister admitting to be willing to perform such an act of cowardice…even if it was to flee from the presence of the Destroyer of Kyōto herself! She then breathed out, "What do I do, Ane-ue?! I know deep in my heart that I did the right thing when it came to Urashima…but to believe he's helped someone like Taeko-sama to be free of her imprisonment — and to become his SISTER as well! — in the wake of all that's happened over the last year…!" She moaned as she tried to bash her head on the pillow behind her skull. "I did the right thing! I swear it!"

Tsuruko lightly smiled. "Do you want to come home?"

Stunned silence fell over the room as Motoko took a moment to consider that offer, and then she slowly exhaled. "I don't know, Ane-ue. Even if it is to effectively get away from a being like Urashima's new sister, it would be admitting defeat to such a man! I can't abandon Shinobu-chan or Su-chan to that man…!"

"Even if he wouldn't live in the dorm house anymore?"

Motoko blinked. "What?"

Tsuruko sighed. She had meditated on what had been going on with her sister and the people she had interacted with since she had moved to the Hinata-sō two years ago. In that self-reflection, she remembered what Taeko spoke to her about the previous morning concerning Motoko's underlying feelings at being forced to become the future heiress of the Aoyama Shinmei-ryū so early in her life. How — despite Motoko's determination to do her best and be a proper heir to the family Art — there was resentment deep in her heart at being put on the spot like that at _fourteen_ years of age. Hearing that had stunned Tsuruko…especially given that it had been _**Taeko**_ of all people who had asked those questions! On thinking about it after staying in one of the guest suites in this vast and nearly magical space station, she realized that the tokkaebi-turned-sorceress had made a very valid point.

"Motoko, we made a mistake two years ago," she then admitted.

Motoko blinked. "What mistake?"

"Not doing our best to consider YOUR feelings about being asked to become the next heir of the Aoyama Shinmei-ryū," Tsuruko stated. "Ask yourself this question…and be honest with yourself most of all, please: Do you really WANT to succeed Otō-san?"

Silence fell again as the younger kendō-ka took a moment to consider that heartfelt plea from her sister concerning her future. She closed her eyes as she considered what to say, wanting to do anything to not upset Tsuruko…but realizing that the older woman wanted to know her true feelings about what had happened in the life of one Aoyama Motoko over the last couple of years and how such reflected on her attitudes towards the future.

Finally — after what seemed an eternity; after a glance to the holographic clock on the window, Tsuruko noted it had been at least five minutes — Motoko took a deep breath. "If Otō-san feels I'm worthy of replacing him as head of the dōjō and head of the Aoyama Shinmei-ryū, I will do it. Hai, I didn't like it when you all declared me to be Otō-san's successor at first, especially after you married your husband…but saying 'no' after all he and Okā-san and our grandparents did to train me in the ways of our family would be so wrong, Ane-ue. I…don't want to disappoint any of you. I…"

She then shuddered as tears appeared in her eyes. Immediately, Tsuruko went over to gently embrace her sister, making sure she did nothing to shift that neural suppression collar around Motoko's neck, thus breaking the shield that was keeping her sister from being totally overwhelmed by her injuries. As Motoko began to weep at being forced to publicly admit her innermost feelings over what had been literally dumped on her head two years ago, Tsuruko gently stroked her hair in the same way their mother Mikiko had always done it when she comforted either of her daughters, ensuring she also avoided the bruising at the back of her sister's skull and on the forehead over Motoko's left eye. After a minute, the younger woman took a deep breath as she sniffed back her tears. Tsuruko allowed her to gently lay back on the pillow before reaching over to grasp her sister's hand; Motoko wouldn't be able to feel it but she would see that act and appreciate it.

"Am I a failure?" Motoko then whispered.

Tsuruko sighed. "No. You've made mistakes. You've used considerable force on a man who wasn't trained in the martial arts even if you believed him to have acted in a perverted and dishonourable manner towards you and the others in the Hinata-sō. If it wasn't for Taeko-sama extending her magic to shield him, I fear you might have killed Keitarō-san over time. We would have not been able to save you from the consequences of such an act." As Motoko gasped on hearing that — she knew the police in Hinata City didn't particularly care for her actions, thought she had long come to see them as corrupt — her sister took a deep breath. "I am upset that you did that to an effectively defenceless person on multiple occasions over the last year…but if I don't admit my own culpability, much less our parents' and grandparents' culpability, in the decision that ultimately drove you to Hinata — making you feel so angry towards any man who met your disapproval along the way — then our whole clan's honour is tainted, especially in the eyes of Keitarō-san. Given Keitarō-san's willingness to welcome Taeko-sama into his family — to say anything of him now engaged to marry a _**tōshi**_ of all people — that could lead to the destruction of everything our family has built over the centuries."

Motoko croaked out in horror. "_Tōshi_…?!" she eeped.

Tsuruko nodded. "Hai. Her name is Dō Karumi. She's an alumnus of Kyoshō. She's A-rank and very good with throwing weapons; she really likes making use of metal chopsticks to put holes in people in vital strike zones. She was Tōgai Shisai in her first life. He was the man who conquered Shoku for Gi in the sixty-third year of the Jingū Empress' reign."

Again, Motoko's mouth opened and closed as she tried to absorb the impact of THAT bombshell! "But HOW?! How did Urashima meet a _**tōshi**_ of all people?! Not to mention become ENGAGED?! He's had no time at all to go meet someone like that! Besides, he's been pining for this 'promise girl' of his for years! He thinks…!"

"What he thought about any other girl is no longer relevant, Motoko!" Tsuruko sternly cut in. As Motoko winced on hearing the snap in her sister's voice, the older kendō-ka took a deep breath. "When Taeko-sama became human, she allowed a sample of her blood — which was based on Keitarō-san's DNA, so there would be no adverse reaction in his body — to be given to him. That gave him the same psionic powers and lifespan any Avalonian like Tamao-chan possesses; it also solidified the magical protections Taeko-sama placed on him when he came to live at the Hinata-sō to defend him from you, Naru-san and the foreign girl." As Motoko winced on hearing that, Tsuruko added, "Karumi-san was found near death in the tunnels under the Hinata-sō on Thursday; she'd been trapped down there behind _**blood ki wards**_ of all things for _**forty years**_! It was a damned MIRACLE that she was still _alive_ even if she was an emaciated husk when Keitarō-san and Taeko-sama rescued her; she was able to keep herself alive because she had mastered her ki so much while she went to school!" As Motoko gasped in horror on hearing _that_ statement — even if she was as mortally terrified of the reborn warriors of the Three Kingdoms as she was of the tokkaebi in the Yōkatana Hinata, she wouldn't approve of someone being subjected to THAT, especially for THAT length of time! — concerning the new woman in Keitarō's life, her sister added, "The Avalonians created a new body for Karumi-san; it was cloned off her DNA. When she and Keitarō-san met after her awakening in her new body, a _marei'cha_ bond was forged between them."

Motoko blinked. "That psychic bond Avalonians and their ancestors on Sagussa always form when they find a perfect soul-mate. It's normally a same-gender sort of bond given they're all bisexual. Kaoru-sensei told me about how powerful that drive can be in their kind. She believes that Tamao-san may now have those feelings for me, just like her friend Iori-sempai has for Naru-sempai and another girl in that group has for Shinobu-chan."

Her sister nodded. "Hai. As a matter of fact, to further solidify their bond, Keitarō-san and Karumi-san resolved to sleep in the Forbidden Annex at the north end of the Hinata-sō grounds last night. Most likely, he's asked for her hand in marriage by now." Tsuruko then took a deep breath as her sister jolted on hearing that her landlord was invoking the magic of THAT place to further solidify a deep psychic bond with a _tōshi_ of all people! "So now, Motoko-chan, you have TWO reasons to come back to Kyōto."

Motoko stared at her sister as she tried to take all that in…

* * *

Hinata, the Wafū Chabō Hinata, that moment…

"Okusei?!"

Moroboshi Hiromi nodded. "Hai. Her Imperial Majesty, the Dragon Empress of Noukiios, is hosting a meeting of the leaders of some of the local powers in the wake of the Liberation of the Avalonians and how that event is shaking up things across the Galactic Federation," she said before sipping the tea Urashima Haruka had prepared for her when she had come inside. "It'll be in twelve hours local time, which will be midday at the fortress of the Chancellor of the Outmarches. The President of Uru — he's ranked the equivalent of _Dai-Gensui_ by our old system given that world and her colonies are ruled under a military junta — will be there; Kyech-san will guarantee that. We'll also have the First Mage of the Seifukusu and Emperor Schwartz of Ipraedos there, which won't impress the Urusians at all. Still, they need to understand that their laissez-faire attitudes towards Earth and our people are going to have to end. Forcing them to confront the leaders of their traditional enemies will do just that."

"Like the garbage about stealing the world's oil, you mean?" Karumi asked. After she had accepted Keitarō's proposal for marriage in the Forbidden Annex, both had cleaned themselves up, spent a welcome time in the hot springs by themselves before they set off to get some breakfast. Before they could have asked for anything from Maehara Shinobu or any of the Hinata Avalonians who had volunteered to cook for everyone now that the numbers inside the dorm had increased sixteen-fold, they sensed their new friend beam down from the bioroid factory to the Wafū Chabō Hinata, so the new couple came to the tea shop to meet up with her.

"Not to mention trying to use time travel devices to go back in time and change a person's childhood development, you mean," Taeko added before sipping her own tea.

"Aye," Hiromi snarled out. "I actually pray that Hensō-san will be there to beg her 'Darling' to let her come back into his life. I'd love to see him unleash the Paranormal-Power Inverse Fire-Bomb on her to give her a taste of her own lightning." She gave a derisive snort. "Feh! To actually turn around and force her own marriage customs — even when he only tagged her horns in a _Tag Race_, where it's seen as illegal to entrap someone in marriage — on someone who simply had no understanding of them! Wretched creature!" She then giggled before sipping her tea. "Oh, that would be so pleasant to watch! Strike down Hensō-san in front of her parents, smash that fat fool father of hers down and rip his canines out of his mouth — that's what Onii-san vows to do — and turn the Fire-Bomb on his fool wife. Let's see how the 'superior' Oni take to being treated like THAT! We might not even need the Yizibajohei to come by to cower them all into submission!" As the others in the room all laughed at that, Hiromi then hummed. "No. Best have Relota-san there at least, not to mention Neyote-san. Threatening to blow up the warp cores of every ship that slips inside the orbit of Jupiter would REALLY drive the message home to them."

"There's no such thing as 'kill' but 'overkill!'" Karumi trilled out.

"What do you mean?" Keitarō asked.

"Neyote Ratosa is the current Academician on Yiziba, Keitarō-san," Hiromi answered. "A woman whose creative genius would surpass ANYONE else in the galaxy by nearly infinite degrees. She's one of the most feared of that race; the common rule of thumb on Yiziba is to 'NEVER piss off the Academician.' When we met up with Kyech-san's friends from that world at the start of the month, Neyote-san was with them. Kyech-san persuaded Onii-san to give them all a wonderful demonstration of the Gojūni Sanji techniques to make them 'feel right at home.'" As the others all gaped on hearing Ataru's tōshi sister tell them that the Dragonspeaker of Noukiios convinced her then-lover to actually use _**sex**_ of all things to effectively win the alliance of some of the most powerful metahumans — beings who could duel Major Raeburn and her friends in the War Hawks on an even footing! — on Yiziba, Hiromi winked. "Neyote-san really loved being subjected to that. She loved it so much that she offered to set up a system of special sensor satellites around our part of the solar system that would make the warp containment fields of selected starships that come within range fail."

"Because they all run on anti-matter, that'll make the ships blow up!" Shinobu then gasped as people exchanged stunned looks. "Hiromi-sempai, is that…?"

"Shinobu-san, the whole point of this exercise is to force the worlds of the Galactic Federation to stop treating Earth as their private playground and respect us as a sentient species," Hiromi calmly cut her off. "Not to mention admit to their mistakes when it came to the Avalonians and respect them as a sentient species as well. Yes, Earth is not politically or culturally unified, not like planets such as Uru and Elle. But there is a very successful example of how a world that IS culturally diverse and ruled by a leadership council within our own local cluster: It's Yehisril…and they're one of the four largest powers in this part of the galaxy! Why can't the United Nations of Earth expand into space together as individual nations working in concert instead of uniting as one worldwide government and potentially destroying some of the cultures of smaller nations? If we have no choice but to get out into space to protect ourselves from selfish, evil monsters like Hensō-san and Ōgi, then we must do it in such a way that allows us to set aside our differences and work as one!"

People exchanged looks, and then Mayor Takada Tamasuke gaped. "Those fifty other starships in orbit over Earth! The ones that are painted blue…"

"With the United Nations crest on their flanks," Hiromi finished. "Aye, Lord Mayor, those very ships. Did you know that they were constructed at an abandoned Fourth Sagussan Republic starship construction yard two of the five hundred poor people who had been kidnapped by the Ipraedies over the last decade had the incredible luck to find as they were returning to Earth?"

People gasped. "You're kidding me!" Karumi exclaimed.

"I would not joke about something like that, Karumi-san!" Hiromi stated. "Atop that, the two good worthies who created such beautiful vessels are actually two of US!"

Jaws dropped. "They're _tōshi_?!" Kashiwamura Moe gasped.

"Aye. Specifically Ki Tsukihana-kun, formerly of Chichibu…and Hakaru Ayami-chan, formerly of Hiratsuka. Respectively by battle name, Kōgetsuei and Jun'iku Bunjaku."

People stared at her. "What happened to them?" Karumi demanded.

"They were kidnapped with their families three years ago," Hiromi explained. "Taken to Ipraedos and put through all sorts of tortures as the worthless slugs who plotted to invade our planet tried to understand all our strengths and weaknesses. Regretfully, Tsukihana-kun's and Ayami-chan's parents didn't survive the ordeal. However, more sympathetic natives of that world — they're not all arrogant racists — helped them escape from Ipraedos. They accidentally made their way to the Den'sha system, a dead Population I star with lifeless planets orbiting it near the hearth world of the Spotakites. There, they found an abandoned fleet of nearly two hundred starships, all Fourth Sagussan Republic vintage. And a large spacedock. Guess what happened?"

"So where are the starships and the spacedock?!" Yamamoto Eriko asked. "We could use that sort of firepower to keep everyone we don't want here out of the system!"

Hiromi gave a soft sigh. "Eriko-san, they are also aware of the Grand Design of the Fifth Republic of Sagussa."

The pure-born Avalonians in the room all tensed on hearing that, some of them scowling on hearing that phrase from Ataru's sister. "So they decided to be 'neighbourly' and sent all those ships and that spacedock back?!" Tsutsumi Makoto coldly demanded.

"Makoto-san, they didn't know about the fate of Project: Avalon."

Hearing that, Eriko and her friends all blinked before they relaxed. "Well, it's not as bad as one might think," Kudō Kana then noted. "Did Tsukihana-kun and Ayami-chan get samples of every usable bit of our creators' technology from the spacedock?"

"What do you think, Kana-san?" Hiromi asked with a wink and a smirk.

The computer sciences teacher at the Ōgusu Seminar then smirked. "Then there'll be no problems," she stated. "Fourth Republic Sagussan technology is at least _five millennia_ ahead of even the Vosians; they're the technological kingpins in this part of the galaxy. And the Vosians are about five hundred years ahead of Earth's present level of technology." As the Terrans in the room all gaped, Kana sipped her tea. "It wouldn't take long for us to adopt those spacedocks and the space factories our sisters brought with them from the Phentax system to build ships at the same technological level as those ships Hiromi-san's friends built."

"So we'll be safe," Mayor Takada breathed out.

"One is never truly safe in life, my friend," Hiromi advised. "But believe me, when we force Lana and his slugs to heel on Okusei, we will do our best to make it VERY clear to them that Earth will never be theirs no matter how much some of them might wish otherwise. We all know of the Imperial Round, do we not?"

People scowled on hearing that phrase. In their briefing of the local galactic situation around Earth that had been released to the world media on Thursday, the Men In Black had been very explicit to describe the rough politics of Uru and what had been the driving forces behind the Tag Race in the first place. The Imperial Round — the leaders of the old princely clans of Uru from before their Union Revolution, which happened around the same time the French Revolution occurred on Earth…and had actually been inspired by it; the Urusians had been observing Earth discretely for centuries — had been driving for a total conquest of Earth for years. Since they were such a powerful force in Urusian politics, any decision made by the government in Onishuto was always tainted by the Round's attitudes. "Is there someone out there — like this Nassur guy or that Dakejinzō lady — who could kill them all off?" Karumi then asked.

"Fret not about that, Shisai-dono," Hiromi stated as she grinned at the reborn conqueror of Shǔ Hàn. "When we were on Okusei, we made the acquaintance of Lum-san's truly wonderful adopted sister Negau-san. She's a senior officer in the Urusian Defence Intelligence Agency, their external and internal intelligence gathering organization. In ways, the DIA is to Urusians as the KGB was to citizens of the old Soviet Union." As people nodded, she added, "Negau-san's as politically neutral as they come; her loyalty is to her people and the survival of her race in the face of potential enemies from nearly every quarter. She knows that since Onii-san's anger has been aroused over what happened to Lum-san, Benten-san, Oyuki-san and Ran-san five years ago on Home Base, he — and we — will do all to punish the idiots that ultimately were responsible for turning Onii-san's life upside down last summer no matter where they are. If she gets the chance — and wins Lana-daitōryō's support, of course — she'll eliminate all the members of the Imperial Round on the spot."

"Having outsiders do it would be _casus belli_," Keitarō concluded.

"Aye…"

People then perked on hearing a communicator sound off. Hiromi sighed before reaching into her robes to pull out the device in question, which had been given to her by the Noukiites before they launched their attack on Phentax Twelve. "Hai?!"

"Hey, Hiromi! Get the lead out!" her sister Tariko called out. "We need to get aboard Kyech's ship so we can head off to Okusei and go tame some Oni!"

"Hai, Onē-san, I'm coming!" Hiromi breathed out…

* * *

Minutes later, Hiromi had beamed out of the Wafū Chabō Hinata for the bioroid factory. As people watched her disappear in a sparkle of materialiser energy, a limousine came up to a stop near the streetcar station located on the Hinata-dōri in front of the teashop. A driver got out to open the back door, allowing Moroboshi Negako to emerge, accompanied by a handsome man in his early twenties, possessing reading glasses and bearing the visible signs of having an American father on his face. He was dressed in a sharp business suit that looked like it came straight from one of the tailors of London's famous Savile Row. He had a briefcase and a sports bag in hand, which made all the locals blink in confusion.

"Ohayō, Negako-san," Keitarō greeted for them all. "You just missed Hiromi."

"I am aware of where Hiromi is going, Keitarō. Pay it no mind," the ninjutsu grandmaster stated before she indicated her companion. "This is Yumoa Reigi. He has the paperwork for the loan Toranoseishin Finances will give you to pay for the property taxes owing to Hinata City this year, plus extra funds if required." She then reached over to take the sports bag from him. "This has all the citizenship papers for your entire group, Eriko, including Scarlett and Irina. You will need to get to your various financial institutions to have the records there changed by the end of business today."

"We've informed all the bank managers here in Hinata to expect you all; they'll extend business hours to accommodate you," Reigi stated as Negako handed the bag to Eriko.

The people there nodded in understanding. "Well, we've got things to do," Keitarō then said. "Why don't you come up to my room, Reigi-san? I'd like to get things signed off so I can get the funds transferred to the city as soon as possible."

"Hai."

Both men headed through the stone gate — modelled somewhat after the famous pagoda-style stone city gates set up in the wall that had once surrounded Sŏul in Korea; it even had a beautiful wooden sign over the archway declaring the gate's name in classically-scripted kanji: **SHŌGIMON** — that had been affixed around the landing of the stairs leading up to the Hinata-sō from the Wafū Chabō. Haruka watched them go as she took a deep inhale of the soothing tobacco fumes from her cigarette. She had been taken aback when Keitarō had ordered the closure of the stairway that led directly from the Hinata-dōri to the main doors of the Hinata-sō yesterday afternoon. After taking a moment to think it over, Keitarō's cousin realized he had done that to not only spare people visiting the Hinata-sō the exhaustive climb going up a hill at a forty-five degree angle from the street always invoked…but to promote business at the Wafū Chabō Hinata as well, giving people who came to the Hinata-sō the chance to stop at the tea shop to have something to drink or eat before heading into the grounds to do business. On realizing _that_, Haruka felt tears of shame in her eyes on remembering how upset she had got at her cousin's actions that had changed so much in so short of a time. Even if there was a practical reason for promoting such business — it would help Haruka contribute to things like property taxes as well as other expenses that had to be shared between the Wafū Chabō Hinata and the Hinata-sō — it also indicated that no matter how upset Keitarō was now at his relatives concerning how he wound up at the Hinata-sō and how out of control his life had become, he still cared for Haruka and didn't want her to lack for anything.

"I best go over to the bank and get my account straightened around," a Russian-accented voice then declared from nearby. "Someone has to go up to the station to get Iori to come down and take care of her account. I can keep Naruša company."

Haruka looked over as Eriko handed a small packet of papers and documents to Irina Bellova. A stunningly beautiful woman Naru's age with wavy pale blonde hair that went to mid-back and turquoise eyes, she had such well-sculptured classical Slavic features on her face that she could have come straight out of any of the works of Leo Tolstój. Like her Avalonian-American elder sister Scarlett Ryan, Irina was a "dream foreigner" in the eyes of the people of Hinata. Even if she spoke with an accent that would make her seem a native of Sankt-Peterburg and used the Russian forms of addressing people, she spoke Japanese with eloquence and behaved as if she had been born in Japan…which she had been. A former charge of Eriko's ex-mistress/genetic template, she hadn't been treated badly by Jelina dai-Goranda while she had still been enslaved to the Niphentaxian woman…though she had been degraded emotionally as a "mere robot" at every opportunity; Haruka heard that from the Zephyrite inquisitor who had been assigned to the Noukiite Imperial Marines platoon who were still camped out on the eastern side of the grounds of the Hinata-sō. _May you enjoy your time on Hichkyech'eng, bitch_, the tea shop matron scowled to herself as she finished her cigarette. _Hope you get a real hot reception when you're sent back home, unable to worship whatever 'church' — Hah! That's a damned joke if there ever was one! — is in power after your release!_

A gentle arm slipped around Haruka's waist, making her blink before she gazed to her left to see Terazawa Masako standing next to her. Physically nineteen, she was currently a convenience store clerk at a Family Mart located at the west end of the Hinata-dōri. Haruka knew her well; Masako had always been helpful in getting emergency supplies for the tea shop whenever the older woman had run out of something, even going so far as to deliver them on her scooter to the Wafū Chabō during times Haruka couldn't get down to the store herself because she was too busy. A wholesome girl with long, straight brown hair that went to mid-back — she always wore a brightly-coloured headband that she always tied off over her left temple — and eyes of golden brown, Masako was one of those girls who always looked better in traditional clothing; she was now dressed in a kimono-and-hakama combination that still discretely showed off the beautiful body she had underneath. Haruka knew Masako had just bonded with another girl her physical age, Nagashima Rio, who worked as a waitress at the Sagami Café, a hostess bar on the waterfront near Hinata-eki. On seeing Masako with Rio, a perky girl with dark lavender hair — which wasn't a dye job — that went to her hips and eyes of amethyst blue, Haruka had to admit that they looked quite natural together. _Guess I'm starting to get used to this whole bond-mating thing of yours_, she mused to herself, knowing that Masako was touching the bare skin over her right hip between her sweater and jeans, thus allowing her to telepathically "hear" her.

«Would you like a bond-mate, Haruka-san?» Masako's voice echoed in her mind.

Haruka slightly jerked on hearing that question in her head. She then relaxed as a flood of reassurance surged into her from Masako. _After spending two hours making out with Kaoru-san, I'd actually consider it_, she admitted as Rio came over with the packages bearing hers and her lover's new identification papers. _Your girls are just so damned sexy, the temptation is just unreal, even for a straight girl like me!_ She sighed as she moved to head back into the tea shop to clean up, allowing Masako to take her hand so they could stay in psionic contact; as Masako was bonded to Rio, the latter would mentally overhear everything. _'Sides, I haven't had some since my boyfriend and I broke up some years back. Actually doing it with Kaoru-san…!_

By then, all were inside the teashop. Immediately, Masako and Rio moved to help in the cleanup from the small breakfast tea party that had been held in the main floor of the Wafū Chabō which had involved Moroboshi Hiromi; since the latter was a waitress even if she worked at a hostess bar — where sexual favours were often given by female staff to the patrons; Haruka knew of the reputation of the Sagami Café and its Yakuza connections — and today was the former's day off work, both were happy to help straighten things around before they headed to their bank to get some necessary administrative work done. "You still care for him, don't you?" Rio asked as they shifted the dirty dishes to the small kitchen so they could be loaded up in the washing machine. Even if the Wafū Chabō Hinata was a traditional Japanese tea house, Haruka had all the modern amenities to help with things like keeping the place clean and neat; city health ordinances demanded it. "Noriyasu-san, I mean."

A nod as Haruka moved to dump the small pile of cigarette butts into a nearby metal canister for safe disposal later; the wood and other flammable materials in the tea shop demanded that strict adherence to fire safety regulations was followed at all times. "Hai, I still do. We both took it pretty bad when Julia died." She sighed. "I miss her a lot," she then confessed. "Even miss that little elf daughter of hers!" She then shrugged. "Besides, you don't forget your first lover. Especially someone like Noriyasu-kun."

Both Avalonians laughed as they shared a knowing look with their current host. "Well, even if our master did treat us as robots, he was pretty gentle with us when he had sex with us after we graduated from Hinata High last year," Masako stated as she took a cloth to wipe down the tables, gently drawing back her kimono sleeves so she wouldn't soil or soak her clothes.

Haruka hummed. "He called himself 'Nagaoka Akira,' right? Fat guy with glasses who normally volunteered to work at the city library?"

"Hai," Rio affirmed. "His real name was Ashan dai-Northa. Came from Phentax Twenty-two, one of the outer colonies. Deep down, he saw us all as human, but he was just too afraid to act on those feelings; he didn't have the confidence Toshiko's brother had."

The older woman took that in with a nod. "You hope he'll be okay when he goes home?"

Rio and Masako nodded. "Hai," the latter stated. "Besides, people out in the colonies were normally more practical than those on Phentax Two. You had to be that way when you had to exert all your energies hacking apart forests and building towns from scratch."

"Wonder what's going on back there," the former mused. "Without the fleet or even the civilian transports, all the colonies are cut off from each other." She then smirked. "Well, given how badly wrecked things are back there, people are probably going to turn around and blame it all on the Church of Lum, not to mention His Excellency the President and Grand Priest himself!"

"Which will make Lum-san leap for joy when she finds out."

Both women laughed. "That poor woman!" Haruka breathed out. "Literally got her whole damned LIFE stolen from her because of that Ōgi bastard! I'm glad the Noukiites were there for her and her friends when they needed help!" She then shook her head as she waved the girls down to the genkan so they could get their shoes on. "C'mon! Help me lock up here, then we'll head down to the bank to get things straightened around."

"Hai!" Rio and Masako chanted…

* * *

Within five minutes, everything was closed and locked up. As Haruka slipped on her jacket, a voice then called out from the direction of Shōgimon, "Haruka-san!"

She turned before grinning. "What is it, Kana?!"

Kudō Kana jogged up to join them, and then they moved to head over as a group to the Hinatasō-eki, the nearby streetcar station for the Hinata Loop, the local light transit line that connected all parts of the small hot springs city. "I just got told by Mayor Takada," the computer science teacher at the Ōgusu Seminar stated. "City Hall will vote on closing the Hinata-dōri from your tea shop around to the south side of the Mikka Hotel grounds on Monday. They'll keep the Hinata Loop active between Hinatasō-eki and Minamimikka-eki, but they might close down Higashimikka-eki since the only people that use that station are the priests at Ōgusu-jinja. That…"

"Will allow you to wall in the grounds of the Mikka Hotel and unite it with the Hinata-sō grounds," Haruka finished for the other woman as they paid the tram fare at the automated gate, then moved to wait for the next car heading down the hill. "Shocked the hell out of me when I heard that the city wants to sell the Mikka and the other old hot springs hotels to Keitarō as a way of making one big complex for you girls. Are people going to volunteer to be part of the dorm staff working under Taeko-san?"

"Hai," Kana stated. "It's only logical that we do that, especially when you consider that once we add the other hotel grounds to the Hinata-sō, the total property size will quadruple. Besides, even if Taeko-sama is quite powerful, we can't depend on her magic all the time. It would just be unfair to her, especially after what Master Hosan put her through in 1603." She sighed. "Besides, if the Ministry of Justice got our citizenship papers processed and issued to us only three days after learning about us, you can bet the Diet will vote on the Avalonian Immigration Bill Asami-san and his group brought before the House of Representatives before the end of next week."

Haruka hummed. Asami Chiaki was a handsome, sharp young dietman from Tōkyō who — after graduating from Tōdai at the top of his class in 2003 — had tried to rise through the ranks of the Liberal Democratic Party and become one of the people's representatives, advocating massive political and economic reforms that would shake Japan out of the complacency many had fallen into after the boom times of the 1980s and allow the nation to charge forward again. Scared of such a radical agenda, the senior leaders of Japan's longest-ruling political party came down on him like an avalanche, insisting on older and more experienced candidates to stand in the general election the previous August. That hadn't stopped the "Lion of Roppongi" — as political watchers soon nicknamed him — from seeking election in Metro Tōkyō's District One as an independent. Winning with ease — though there had been rumours of under-the-table Yakuza support — he immediately formed a voting bloc alliance with two freshmen who had also been elected in that round, the LDP's Sengoku Shin'ichirō of Hokkaidō's District Eight and independent Yoshimaru Hidekawa of Kōchi's District One.

The three — nicknamed "Asami's Tigers" as a group by the media — proposed a joint private member's bill in the House of Representatives in Thursday afternoon's session concerning the Avalonians. Atop supporting the Emperor's call to officially acknowledge all Avalonians living in Japan as citizens — "_As it was proven by Moroboshi Negako-sama that in ALL cases, they were BORN here! Do we not recognize all living people born in this nation — even those descent of foreigners — as having the right to seek citizenship?_" Chiaki declared when he first tabled the bill — they spiritually called home, they also advocated opening the immigration floodgates and allow those Avalonian-Japanese still in orbit to come live in Japan…along with those Avalonians shaped like natives of other nations on Earth who would want to live in the Home Islands. "_We have been handed an unprecedented opportunity to take a_ **massive** _leap into the future because of the actions of Negako-sama and her siblings yesterday out in space_," the Lion of Roppongi added after the bill went through first reading in the House. "_For months, we lived in mortal fear — even if we didn't openly express it — of what open contact with aliens might do to our nation and our planet. Thanks to Negako-sama and her siblings, we now have within our grasp the means to defend ourselves from all comers. Yes, we are all grateful for the actions of the Imperial Dominion of Noukiios that permanently removed the threat of the Oni and their allies —_ **especially** _the Niphentaxians! — from our world! But we have the duty to our constituents to see to Earth's defence in concert with our counterparts in the capital cities of other nations and our representatives in the United Nations! Are we going to abandon our responsibility…and allow people like those lunatics that had been in Nishitōkyō for months to actually DETONATE an anti-matter bomb here?!_"

Political watchers gave the Avalonian Immigration Bill excellent odds in becoming law very soon; on its first reading, it received wide support from backbenchers from all parties in the House, spanning from the left-wing Communist Party to the right-wing Restoration Party.

"We should start expecting your sisters to come down next week, right?" Haruka asked.

"Hai," Kana said with a nod as a distant bell rang, heralding the arrival of a single-car tram from the direction of Higashimikka-eki, the vehicle itself a surplus car that had done service with the Nagasaki Electric Tramway system in Kyūshū. She then smiled. "Once we get the road closed off and the area properly walled in, we can get your tea shop under the wards and build normal defences around it as well," she stated as the tram came to a stop.

Haruka gaped as they stepped aboard. "Why?!"

"There'll be people who won't like the changes, Haruka-san," Kana stated as they moved to take seats. "You know of your grandmother's little band of enforcers, don't you?"

The tea shop matron blinked before she moaned. "Right…!"

* * *

On the slopes of Ōgusu-yama, close to the north boundary line of the Hinata-sō, that moment…

"**_AH-CHOO!_**"

"**_AH-CHOO!_**"

"**_AH-CHOO!_**"

"**_AH-CHOO!_**"

Hearing that chorus of sneezes from his companions, Ichinosei Hikaru turned to gaze on the other enforcers that had come with him to do a quick scouting of their employer's property. "You guys okay?" he whispered, and then he sneezed. "**_AH-CHOO!_**"

"Someone's talking about us, Aniki!" San Tokutarō, the young Zainichi Korean in their group, moaned as he wiped his nose.

Ichinosei groaned. "Damn! You're right!" He then perked on hearing the rustling of branches against a person's body. "What's it look like, Tenna-san?" he hissed.

Approaching them from the new stone fence that divided the Hinata-sō property from the property of the closed-down Ōgusu Hotel was the lone adult female Molmolite living in Hinata. Tenna Kan was a magical, trained at the Salem Witches Institute in America, having graduated four years ago before returning to her homeland and apprenticing under the Royal Wizard herself before being assigned as Kaolla Su's magical guardian. A lovely woman with sunflower blonde hair tied in a waist-length French braid and deep red-brown eyes, she followed her beloved princess' example and told people who asked where she came from that she was from India…which, thanks to her dusky olive-brown skin, she clearly looked like. Fortunately, thanks to her having spent years in America, Tenna didn't make stupid goof-ups like Kaolla had done and said weird things like claiming she came from the "deserts of Tōkyō."

"The place is warded completely down," the witch stated without preamble. "It's even more protected than places like the Royal Palace back home, to say anything of vital locations in America like Fort Knox." As her local companions all grimaced, she breathed out. "We'd need a full curse-breaking team to try to get in. Even if we could break down the wards, Lady T'aeja would know right away we were trying to get inside and react." Tenna sighed. "As for the non-magical defences, I can't say; that's not my area of expertise. But if what the Avalonians brought here is any clue, whatever protections they put into the walls will probably be just as dangerous."

"Fuck!" another of the former kobun snarled. "What do we do, Aniki?!"

"How about getting the fuck off our family property and go crawl back into what shithole you came from, asshole!" a strange woman's voice then snarled.

Everyone's heads snapped around…

"**_DŌ!_**" Ichinosei howled on recognizing the bitch that had tried to seduce Hina's brother years ago. Without hesitation, he reached into his jacket for his automatic…

_TTHUNK!_

…then screamed out in pain on seeing that his hand had just been punched through the palm of his hand thanks to a flung metal _chopstick_! On seeing their "elder brother" taken down so easily, the other four enforcers moved to lunge at Karumi…

_TTHUNK! TTHUNK! TTHUNK! TTHUNK!_

…before they collapsed to their knees, gripping wounded hands. As Tenna turned to send a stun spell at Karumi, a bolt of purple fire shaped like a grasping hand reached out from behind the fence line to snare her around her waist and boost her into the air. "_**HEY!**_" she cried out as one of those energy fingers — which weren't burning her, she was privately relieved to note — pressed into her wrist to make her drop her wand. As Karumi calmly snared the wooden stick, she then turned and leapt back over the wall onto the Hinata-sō property, not saying a word in parting to Hina's enforcers.

The former kobun moaned as Karumi disappeared from view, and then Ichinosei moved to get back to his feet. "C'mon!" he spat out. "We have to get the police to come here and have that damned T'aeja arrested for kidnapping Tenna-san!"

"Pity you'll be spending time in intensive care, jerkface!" a strange voice snarled.

Ichinosei jolted. "Eh?!"

He turned around…

…just as his whole face exploded in pain!

* * *

On the other side of the wall, both Karumi and Taeko turned to gaze in the direction of the chorus of frightened screams and the sounds of bones breaking. "Friends of yours, Karumi-ya?" the tokkaebi-turned-sorceress calmly wondered.

"In another lifetime, yeah," her future sister-in-law answered.

"Release me!"

Both women then glared at Tenna as Karumi allowed her ki and Taeko allowed her magic to flood their eyes, making them glow in a VERY menacing manner. On seeing that, the Molmolite witch croaked in mortal terror before her eyes rolled into her head and she passed out. By then, two people had joined them, one armed with a Peacemaker supplied by the Noukiites and the other unarmed. As Mizote Toshiko levelled the weapon on Tenna, Negako make a beckoning motion with her hand. Taeko shifted Tenna's body over to allow her "sŏnbae-nim" to touch the witch and do a quick examination via shiatsu points. A moment later, Negako sighed. "Ebony mesonium radiation poisoning," she then declared. "Toshiko, have one of the non-templated bodies you moved from your former leader's residence prepared."

"Soul-swap, Thoughtmistress-prime?" the motorcycle enthusiast asked.

A tendon over Negako's right eye twitched. "Immediately."

"Hai!" She then moved to head off.

"Toshiko!"

Toshiko yelped. "H-h-hai…?" she sputtered.

Negako gave her a look that could melt lead. "Cease addressing me as 'Thoughtmistress-prime,'" the ninjutsu grandmaster stated. "Now, do as I bid!"

"HAI!"

And with that, Toshiko raced off to the Hinata-sō. Negako sighed before she moved to take Tenna's body in hand. Slinging her over her shoulder, she headed off at a sedate pace. Watching her go, Taeko breathed out, "Sŏnbae-nim really needs to learn how to relax."

"What the fuck do you expect from the _**Black Death**_?!" Karumi moaned, projecting her voice in such a way that the tōshi on the other side of the wall could hear her.

Taeko gave her an amused look…

* * *

"Oh, fuck me…!"

"Kakōton, there's no fuckin' way I'm fighting THAT monster!"

Hearing that, the tanned, brown-eyed high school sophomore in the loose clothing that male tōshi normally preferred, his shaggy brown hair under a tuque, sighed as he cracked his knuckles after introducing some of these Yakuza idiots to the Basics. "I hear you, man," Natsukimi Makoto — known to his peers as "Kakōton Genjō" — calmly stated. "Nice of Shisai to warn us of who else is on these grounds outside T'aeja-sama."

"Problem is, is Shisai safe?!" one of Makoto's best friends and a trusted adviser to their school leader, Kuruwa Yoisuke (Kakuka Hōkō), asked as he gazed on the leader of this small observation team that had been dispatched to Hinata by Tsukasa Torusuke to scout out what had happened to the woman they all knew as "Tōgai Shisai." "Especially with the Black Death AND the Destroyer of Kyōto involved in this?! We all know what THEY can do!"

"She's okay. Didn't you feel it, guys?"

The four other tōshi blinked. "Feel what?" Yoisuke asked.

"Shisai's ki? It's the same as almost everyone else in that place." Makoto thumbed behind him to indicate the Hinata-sō. "I'll lay a strong bet that she's one of the Space Angels."

The others gaped at him. "Why the fuck did THAT happen?!" another man asked.

"Dunno," Makoto breathed out before he leaned down to yank the unconscious — and profusely bleeding — Ichinosei Hikaru off the ground. "Hey, asshole! Wake up!" he snarled as he backhanded the leader of Hina's enforcers across the face.

A croak of pain escaped the older man before he blinked…and then found himself facing a nightmare almost as bad as Dō Karumi or Urashima Taeko. "Hey, there you go!" Makoto said with a chuckle before his eyes narrowed. "Now, we're gonna get you guys someplace nice so we can bandage you all up…and then, we're gonna _**talk**_!"

Ichinosei whimpered on hearing that…

******_To be continued…_**

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) **Nagoya University** (_Nagoya Daigaku_, normally shortened to **Meidai**, which uses a different reading of the first kanji that goes into "Nagoya," **名古屋**) is — along with Tōkyō University — one of the **National Seven Universities** (_Kokuritsu Nanadaigaku_) of Japan. This group of universities — also known as the "Former Imperial Universities" (_Kyūteidai_) as they were founded as part of the Imperial University system of higher schools between 1877 and 1939 — hold great reputations for their successes in research activities, particularly in the natural sciences and engineering. Thus, the entrance examinations for these schools is extremely competitive.

2) Translations: **Shachō** — President of a business company; **Ane-ue** — A combination of _ane_ ("elder sister") with _ue_ (used in this situation as a term marking the highest levels of respect and politeness); **Shoku** — Japanese way of reading the kanji that is read in Mandarin as "Shǔ" (as in **Shǔ Hàn**); **Gi** — Japanese way of reading the kanji that is read in Mandarin as "Wèi" (as in **Cáo Wèi**); **Dai-Gensui** — Literally "Great Marshal" and seen as the equivalent of the special "six-star" American army rank of **General of the Armies of the United States** or the Nazi German **Reichsmarschall**, this was the highest rank level in Imperial Japan, only held by the Heavenly Sovereign until the end of World War Two; **Laissez-faire** — Literally meaning "let (them) do" and normally interpreted as "let it be," this is a term almost always applied to an economic situation in a nation without any type of overt government restrictions, tariffs and subsidies; **Dono** — Suffix honorific taken from the word _tono_ ("lord"), this is the honorific used when normally addressing a head of family or when a greater level of respect than the basic "-san" honorific (yet less formal than the very formal "-sama" honorific) is required; **KGB** — Acronym for _Komitet Gosudarstvennoj Bezopasnosti_ ("Committee for State Security"), which was active in the Soviet Union from 1954-91; **Casus Belli** — Literally "case for war," this is a situation whose severity in the eyes of the affected government would provoke that government to declare war against the power that provoked the situation; **Daitōryō** — President of a nation-state; **Sankt-Peterburg** — Russian way of saying the name of the city known in English as **Saint Petersburg** and called **Leningrad** from 1924-91; **Minamimikka** — South Mikka; **Higashimikka** — East Mikka; **Jinja** — Name suffix for a Shintō shrine.

3) **Duranium** is a term taken from _Star Trek_; as noted by Iori here, this element — which was reported to occur in the crusts of worlds such as Bajor as noted in the _Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual_ — is one of the primary materials that go into the construction of starships and starbases. In the universe of this story, it will be a highly-tensile alloy composed of several materials, though I won't go into technical details.

4) **Aoyama Tsuruko**'s husband was never named in the _Love Hina_ manga or anime. In this part, I give him the name of his seiyū, **Iizuka Shōzō**.

5) The **Jingū Empress** is one of the legendary Japanese rulers whose existence has yet to be properly confirmed through archaeological evidence. The fifteenth Heavenly Sovereign of Japan according to the traditional count, she was said to have been born around 169-170 C.E. and died in 269; her time on the Throne was from 201 until death. Believed by some to be the legendary shaman-queen **Himiko** (unknown date of birth, died circa 248) of the ancient country of **Yamatai** (which was a distinct nation than the realm of **Yamato** which eventually evolved into modern Japan) according to some sources, the Jingū Empress was claimed to have led a three-year campaign against Korea before the birth of her son and successor, the **Ōjin Emperor** (unknown dates of birth and death, said to have ruled 270-310). Evidence concerning such an invasion has never been confirmed.

6) _Yatsura_ and _The Senior Year_ character and incident notes:

The incident Taeko refers to concerning **Redet Hensō** using a time-travel device — in _TSY_, Mike Smith called such a device a **spacializer** — to alter Ataru's behaviour was depicted in the _Yatsura_ manga story "Down The Right Path" (manga episode #83).

The spacedock and the abandoned Fourth Sagussan Republic fleet that was in orbit over **Den'sha Two** was first introduced in the _TSY_ story "Great Father Ataru Stage Six: Auction." This was also the story where the natives of the planet **Spotak** (demonym **Spotakite**) were first introduced. As an aside, the **Grand Design of the Fifth Republic** was the project launched by the last survivors of the Fourth Republic of Sagussan ten millennia ago to rehabilitate and repopulate their badly-wrecked planet, using fresh humanoid stock from all the races possessing iron-based blood in the half of the galaxy closest to Sagussa itself, including Earth. The full mechanics of the Grand Design — and how it affected Ataru's life for good and ill — are explained throughout _TSY_.

**Nassur** was introduced in the _TSY_ story "Return of Memory." He is Mike Smith's primary character created for the series and is a native of the planet **Vos** (demonym **Vosian**). He is a bounty hunter currently operating out of the **Home Base** asteroid located not so far from Uru itself. His contemporary **Shogai Dakejinzō** was introduced in "Arrive Reiko-chan." While an adopted member of the **Fukunokami** race (Benten's people), she is actually a synthetic humanoid with elfin-like ears, cat-slit eyes and a prehensile horse-like tail that was found in cryogenic suspension — after **_five million years_**! — by the current president of the Union of Fukunokami, Shogai Shinzō. Both Nassur and Dakejinzō are former students of the highest-ranked lawman of Yehisril, Grand Duke **Varanko** of Kyotos, who was introduced in "Ancient Ties."

7) The **Paranormal-Power Inverse Fire-Bomb** (_Henryoku Handō Kōgeki_) is one of the more devastating defensive attacks in Saikō Jinsejitsu-ryū. Manipulating a type of ki that is normally referred to as "anti-ki" — in other words, ki that would cancel out the affects of an attacker's own ki — the person using this attack would create a containment bubble that would snare any form of paranormal attack sent against him/her, then return to sender. Using this against Hensō's bio-electrical powers would literally make her zap herself…which, given what she — and Lum in the proper _Yatsura_ continuity — did to Moroboshi Ataru at the end of the First Tag Race to warn him against straying from his new "wife," would have probably broke her heart and caused a lot of issues with Invader. In reflecting on that recently, I decided that doing anything to deny an Oni the right to use such paranormal powers on a spouse would be one of the steps in initiating a divorce…which, as I established in _The Senior Year_, would only happen when the person wishing to divorce the Oni in question removes said Oni's horn-buds from the head and crushes them, thus effectively denying them the ability to fly or use any of their other powers.

8) The **Academician** is one of the many Yizibajohei metahumans I introduced in _The Doctor Is In_ at the Anime Add-venture as well as _The Saga of Coyote and the Tempest_ and _Manacled Dominatrix_ here. Each time I did that, I used the character of **Elizabeth Wakefield** from Francine Pascal's _Sweet Valley High_ young adult book series from the 1980s; I felt that Elizabeth would make the perfect Academician under those circumstances.

9) _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

**Kakōton Genjō** (**Natsukimi Makoto**) first appeared in episode #7; his story was described in Part 19 of _Phoenix From the Ashes_.

**Kakuka Hōkō** (**Kuruwa Yoisuke**) first appeared in episode #15; his background was expanded on in Part 25.

**Kōgetsuei** (**Ki Tsukihana**) and **Jun'iku Bunjaku** (**Hakaru Ayami**) are my own creations that first appeared in the _Restart Deluge - The Emperor's Army_ storyline at the Anime Add-venture and were revised and polished off for _PFtA_. Their backgrounds are expanded on in Part 11.

10) The **Shōgimon** at the Hinata-sō is patterned specifically after the **Changŭimun**, the northwest of the Eight Great Gates of Sŏul. This gate is located in the Puam-dong neighbourhood of the capital city's Chongno Ward, about a kilometre north-northwest of the grounds of **Kyŏngbok-gong**, one of Sŏul's many Chosŏn-era royal palaces; it's also about six hundred metres from the grounds of **Ch'ŏng'wadae**, the official residence of the President of the Republic of Korea on the southern slopes of **Puk'an-san** ("North Han Mountain"). As with the other gates, Changŭimun was built between 1396-98; the gate still exists to this day, as does sections of the city walls connecting to the gate's sides. The name _Changŭimun_ itself — and its Japanese translation _Shōgimon_ — means "Showing the Correct Thing Gate."

11) **Lev Nikoláevič (Leo) Tolstój** (1828-1910) was one of Russia's most famous writers. He primarily wrote novels and short stories; he's most famous for the 1869 novel _War and Peace_ and _Anna Karenina_, published in instalments from 1873-77. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. Tolstój is equally known for his complicated and paradoxical persona and for his extreme moralistic and ascetic views, which he adopted after a moral crisis and spiritual awakening in the 1870s, after which he also became noted as a moral thinker and social reformer. As an aside, the "**J**" in the Scientific Romanization system for Russian symbolizes the voiced palatal approximant sound that is similar to the "y" in _you_; under normal circumstances, this would be written as "y" as shown in the normal spelling of Leo Tolstój's family name in Latin script.

12) **Sengoku Shin'ichirō** and **Yoshimaru Hidekawa** are both characters from _Sanctuary_. The former was introduced in the manga story "Enemies" (manga episode #31), the latter being introduced two stories later in "A Fight" (manga episode #33). While their general constituencies were noted in the story, the exact districts they represented were not named. In the universe of this story, Chiaki represents **Metro Tōkyō District One**, which covers the capital city's Chiyoda, Minato and Shinjuku Wards. Shin'ichirō is the representative of **Hokkaidō District Eight**, covering Hiyama and Oshima Subprefectures and Hakodate City. And Hidekawa was elected in **Kōchi District One**, which is composed of part of the city of Kōchi itself.

As an aside, I give Asami Chiaki the nickname "**Lion of Roppongi**" from the scenes in the manga story "Refugees" (manga episode #19), where he introduces **Ishihara Kyōko** — the Tōkyō Metropolitan Police inspector from Roppongi who would eventually become lovers with Hōjō Akira — to his "political studies group" at Tōdai…which actually turns out to be a _**martial arts club**_! As Chiaki explained it to Kyōko concerning his students, "_A mouse can roar…but it only sounds like squeaking to a cat. A cat can roar…but it only sounds like meowing to a lion. **The first thing each of these men has to do is become a lion! That is the ultimate goal of this political studies group!**_"


	9. Tenna Pleads For Her Princess

Space Factory #319, an hour before lunch…

"Hey!"

Motoko blinked on hearing that familiar voice, and then she looked to her left before smiling in delight on seeing the woman now standing there. "Tamao-san…"

Grinning, Sakurada Tamao leaned over to gently kiss her on the lips. Motoko didn't flinch — not that she could really move given her current set of circumstances — from that warm and tender contact on her lips. There _was_ a small part of her that was still bothered by the idea of this incredibly athletic young woman with the shaggy brown hair cropped at mid-neck and the caramel-brown eyes — who had befriended her the first day she began attending classes at Mikasa Girls Senior and Junior High School two years ago — now being _forced_ to seek her out as an intimate lover…

"I don't feel forced," Tamao gently teased as she winked at her.

Motoko instantly blushed on realizing that her Avalonian classmate had telepathically "heard" her. She then sighed as she remembered what Shiina Kaoru had done for her early that morning to make her fully comprehend what Avalonians were like, both physically and mentally. "Still, I didn't know…couldn't reciprocate…"

"Well, now you do know…and once you're back on Earth and inside the Hinata-sō, we'll take the chance to see how far we can go with this," Tamao promised. "'Sides, I do owe you for all the times I probed your thoughts and revealed your secrets to my master for analysis and transmission back to Phentax Two. Even if I had no choice when it came to doing it, I still feel I owe you one…and I do pay my debts."

The wounded kendō-ka nodded in understanding as Tamao reached over to pull a chair up to the side of her bed before sitting down. She had always liked Sakurada Tamao, right from the first day she had walked into Senior Class 1-A almost two years ago and the track star — who had her own legion of fans following her every move like Motoko would gain a year later with Matsumoto Sachiyo and her small troupe — came over without being bidden and welcomed her to the school, vowing to be her friend. And while some people might question Tamao's motives now that the truth of her existence was publicly known, Motoko _**knew**_ deep in her heart that Tamao had sought her out of her own free will, sensing that the newcomer from Kyōto felt all alone in the world and desperately needed a friend. And while Tamao frequently upbraided Motoko for the times she had gone after her landlord for his perversions — the track star often warned her that she was jumping to conclusions, not properly reading the situation, harming an innocent man (which would have the police all over her in an instant hadn't Urashima Keitarō been so kind-hearted)…and most of all, potentially dishonouring everything her relatives had taught her about bushidō — she always did it in a comforting manner that often reminded Motoko of how her mother scolded her in the past: Firm in her convictions yet always showing she cared. In that part, Motoko knew now that Tamao had fashioned her words and tone in that fashion after telepathically viewing the kendō-ka's memories…but there had been far too many times in the last two years when the latter had been there for the former to help her when Motoko found herself lost in a world she didn't understand to hold such a thing against her.

_I love her as my best friend_, Motoko mused to herself, grateful that Tamao wasn't touching her at that point. _Can I love her as my soul-mate?_

"What is it?" the other woman asked.

Motoko sighed. Tamao was empathic as well as telepathic. There was no way that the kendō-ka could lie to her. "I'm just wondering if I'd be good enough for you, Tamao," she confessed, deliberately dropping the honorific to imply she was willing to try to take their relationship to that level of intimacy. "I still feel that I somehow trapped you in this. After all the things you've done for me, I still feel unworthy of your friendship at times. I know how much you hate it when I go after men like I do…but you still stay with me…" Her eyes teared as her voice began to catch in her throat. "Why…?"

Tamao leaned down to gently brush Motoko's cheeks clean. "Because that's what real friends do for each other," she said. "I saw you that first day in Class 1-A…and even before I touched you to sense your thoughts, I could _**feel**_ how scared and lonely you were. Country girl raised in a traditional home, suddenly finding herself in the middle of one of Japan's largest cities. Not having a damned clue about modern things like cell phones, computers and the like. Filled to the gills with all the stories of your family's past deeds, determined — even if you were scared out of your mind as well after having THAT level of responsibility slammed onto your head — to be the best you can be and carry the family and the Art on. So I knew you needed a friend and I wanted to be your friend. That was always my choice, Motoko. Hai, our masters and mistress made us make friends, but we had the freedom to choose what friends we wanted to have. And I'm glad beyond belief that I chose you. Especially after you showed how strong and skilled you were; you chased away the little 'stormtroopers' that would have probably tried to crawl into my skirt if they got the chance."

A chuckle answered her. "Hai! Just like you've done to Sachiyo-san and the others!"

Both women laughed, and then Tamao leaned down to kiss Motoko again on the lips. This time, the latter allowed her mouth to open and her tongue to probe into her friend's mouth. A purr escaped the Terran-form Avalonian as she moved to give the kendō-ka a beautiful French kiss. Motoko, despite her disdain for most of the male gender, was a closet romantic deep down; she had read her share of romance stories — both Japanese and foreign — over the years, so she understood what the art of kissing was all about. Besides, attending an all-girls school like Mikasa often provoked instances where the students — since they were in a society that frowned heavily on any open show of affection between the sexes, especially at that age — would explore their sexuality with each other. While Motoko had not gone that far with Tamao, the former had caught a few couples making out in private places at school. Fortunately for those poor girls, Motoko had the stealth skills to extract herself from such embarrassing situations with ease; none had ever sensed she was here.

And now…

_I will give myself to you_, Motoko mentally vowed.

«When your body's healed,» Tamao telepathically called back. «Right now — much that I'd give anything to give you all the intimate therapy you need — your body's just too damn banged up. Having sex with someone isn't fun when you're in pain.»

Motoko's eyes then widened as she pulled away. "Were you raped?!" she demanded.

"Fortunately no," Tamao said with a smirk. "Not like a lot of the older girls, those physically above legal age like the girls who dated Keitarō-san after he saved Toshiko from that drunk driver two weeks ago. It would have been noticed if my hymen was missing, especially by the idiot who works in the nurse's station at school."

Motoko scowled. The nurse at their school was a puritanical lunatic who had always admonished all her charges about not allowing their maidenheads to be sundered anytime before marriage. And while that really wasn't such a bad attitude to have — especially in the face of lecherous men who would take a woman's innocence if given a chance — and to pass on to the younger generation, said woman was always riding people about being "pure" at every opportunity. The kendō-ka personally suspected the nurse was a devout Roman Catholic — she didn't have a Kyūshū accent, but the possibility was there — which would not be a proper thing given that she had no right to FORCE her beliefs on other people. _Might have to find some way to get the parents of some of our schoolmates to complain to the school board and have such a creature removed_, she mused. _I don't want to give myself totally to Tamao, then face such a woman's useless scorn afterwards!_

"What of your other sisters at school?" Motoko then asked. "Were they hurt?"

"No. Karan — he was the boss of the Hinata observation post — came down hard on anyone who got a little too frisky with those of their slaves who were still in school. I don't know what it was like at Hinata High or Miura Girls when it came to those of my sisters in town actually doing it with each other or with any girl who might have wanted that type of intimacy and was willing to go all out to get it. Even if we're finally free and we've had loads of chances since Thursday morning to sit down and swap stores about what's happened to us without our masters and mistress coming down on us — even nice guys like Tarash and Ashan — for not doing our tasks and risking breaking cover, we've just been too busy getting things set up for our move into the Hinata-sō."

Hearing that made Motoko breathe out. Tsuruko — who had left her about an hour before so she could return to Earth and report what happened to her sister to their parents and the clan elders in Kyōto — hadn't told her much else about what was happening at the dorm outside hitting her with the news of the presence of Urashima Taeko and Dō Karumi. "Are you all moving into the dorm? Is there enough room there?"

"Hai, there will be once we rebuild the whole damned place to fit us all in," Tamao affirmed with a nod. "Atop that…" She sighed. "I hate to say it, Motoko, but you haven't been doing that old place any favours using ki attacks inside the building or close to the building like you've done. When we got Tanya — she's one of Kaoru's friends — to go take a look at the place, she was shocked at how many cracks there were in all the building mainframes. That's thanks mostly to you and Kaolla-chan."

Motoko jerked. "But…"

"Relax!" the other girl urged as she moved to gently caress the wounded kendō-ka's cheek. "We can rebuild the place free of charge with materials we can mine from the Moon or the asteroid belt, have them processed through the replicator units on the station here, then send them down to the surface to be installed." She then gave Motoko a warning look. "But I better warn you now: Keitarō-san's fiancée promises you won't have an easy time of it if you try to go after him in the future."

That made Motoko wince. "But…!"

Tamao gave her a sympathetic look. "How many times have I warned you about that?" she gently scolded. "Especially in the last two weeks after you got sent to the hospital thanks to Toshiko? You noticed he didn't say anything when Toshiko, Eriko and the others began openly speaking of you all getting kicked out of there."

"But still…!" Motoko protested with another wince before she sighed. "I did the right thing, Tamao! I did the right thing! Would you want to have any sort of non-related male living under the same roof as a girl Shinobu-chan's age, much less Su-chan's?! Especially one who _supposedly_…" — one could coat the recovery room floor with the scorn she felt on saying that word — "…has 'accidents' that embarrass Naru-sempai and myself all the time?! I don't believe ANY of his words professing his innocence! I don't! It just can't be, Tamao! It can't!"

Silence fell as Motoko squeezed her eyes shut. Gazing at her future bond-mate, Tamao could immediately sense the storm of confusion and uncertainty fighting for control of the other person's heart…and that didn't, of course, mask the sheer _**terror**_ she now felt at the possibility of facing two beings that she had been trained since early childhood to view as the worst monsters imaginable. And while that sort of fear was understandable — especially given the lack of luck practitioners of the Shinmei-ryū had against either tōshi or the tokkaebi in the Yōkatana Hinata — Tamao knew that both Dō Karumi and Urashima Taeko were pretty decent people. They both cared very deeply for Urashima Keitarō, which — thanks to Aoyama Motoko's actions towards him over the last year — gave them more than enough reasons to NOT trust the young kendō-ka from Kyōto anywhere within striking range of that man. Given how Keitarō had come together with both his sister and fiancée, Motoko would have every reason in the world to fear a double-dose of vengeance on her for what she had done to him.

That situation was always a recipe for trouble…

…and this time, Motoko wouldn't have the emotional support base she had enjoyed in the past when she faced Keitarō.

"What did your sister say to you?" Tamao asked.

A groan escaped Motoko. "She begged me to return to Kyōto," she breathed out. "Actually apologized to me for not taking into consideration my feelings when Otō-san selected me to be his successor after Ane-ue married. Told me it was alright to be afraid in the face of Taeko-sama and that tōshi. But if I did that…!"

"Do you honestly believe Moe would allow Shinobu-chan to be hurt?"

Motoko blinked. "Who?"

"Kashiwamura Moe. She's going to be Shinobu-chan's bond-mate."

The kendō-ka hummed. With some help from Shiina Kaoru, she had got the chance to see the images of all the Hinata Avalonians. "The girl with the same hair colour as Toshiko-san, but younger. She goes to Hinata Middle School…"

"In Shinobu-chan's class. They also go to the Ōgusu Seminar after school and on the weekends for cram classes. Yeah, that's her." Tamao sighed. _Let's see if going_ this _way makes her bend!_ she mused before saying, "I can't understand why you can't really see Keitarō-san as a nice man. Yeah, he's pretty clumsy and has a pretty awful case of bad luck. But you've been warming up to him slowly but surely since he got slam-dunked into being your landlord. Besides, even if he did mutter about evicting you girls from time to time — and let Toshiko and the others say things like that when they started dating him — because he felt you were being totally unfair to him, did he ever act on that?"

Motoko jerked. "No, but still…"

"Did he ever call the police on you girls?"

Another jerk twitched the kendō-ka's head. "No, but…"

"So how in Lyna's name could he be so bad?" Tamao asked. "Yes, he sometimes walked in on you when you were changing clothes. Yes, he tripped and fell over you and saw things he shouldn't. But didn't he apologize for that, even after you blasted him into the sky like you did? Didn't he work his butt off to make sure things were fixed and kept clean at the Hinata-sō even if none of you — save probably Shinobu-chan! — tried to help him, sacrificing a chance to get into Tōdai this year along the way?"

Motoko blinked…and then she sighed. "Yes, he's done that, Tamao! But…!"

Her voice then failed as a sob escaped her. Sensing the fear and terror deep in her soul finally exploding forth to overwhelm her, Tamao moved to comfort. As Motoko wept, the other girl shushed her as she gently kissed her friend's cheeks and forehead, stroking her hair — avoiding the bruises of course — as she projected as powerful an aura of reassurance and support as she could muster from her own heart. Of course, touching the kendō-ka allowed the track star to telepathically "hear" a storm of jumbled thoughts stampeding through Motoko's mind. _He's going to make that tokkaebi kill me! He'll have that tōshi kill me! He'll have them kill Naru-sempai and Kitsune-sempai and Su-chan! He wants us dead! He hates us! Urashima hates everyone who's tried to make him conform, from his parents to Haruka-san to his grandmother to us to everyone else! Why did Obā-sama allow him to come to the dorm?! Why did she leave?! Why is this happening to us?! Why couldn't things stay the same…?!_

«Things can't stay the same, Motoko-vayae,» Tamao gently answered as she kissed Motoko on the lips. «That's not the way of Existence. You were all just left there to live every damned day without a change in the world, rotting away…» Her own brown eyes teared as she gazed intently into Motoko's grey orbs. "Yeah, it was okay to give you a place to be alone and think after your grandparents and parents dumped the fate of the most precious thing in your whole life — the legacy of your family — right on your shoulders! When you were fuckin' _**fourteen**_, for Lyna's sake! Did they give a damn about what YOU might have wanted?! Or cared that you might not have been ready to have that slammed on you like that?!" She shook her head. "Every time you cried deep in your heart because you felt you were failing your family, I cried for you! Every time you found something in our society you couldn't comprehend, every time you just felt lost and alone, I prayed that the Master of Entropy would come along and punish your relatives for not considering that you're living in the _Twenty-first Century_ now and that things have changed SO much since the Tokugawa era!

"And what was worse, when your 'Obā-sama' just LEFT you in that place last year with you and the others thinking all was right with the world, she turns around and unleashes something that she PROMISED you wouldn't have to deal with living there!" Tamao then snarled as she pulled away from Motoko, then began to pace around the room. "Yeah, you had a right to hate the idea of Keitarō-san being made your manager without anyone bothering to ask any of you if you wanted something like that…but for Lyna's sake, why can't you focus the anger on the person that deserves it, huh?! Did Hina ever care a damned bit what _your_ feelings were?! Did she care about what Naru felt?! Or Kitsune or Kaolla or Shinobu?! No!" She then stopped by the windows to take several deep breaths before she gazed on Motoko. "You know that whole promise girl thing Keitarō-san cared so much about?"

"Hai," Motoko said with a faint nod, stunned to have seen such a burst of outrage from Tamao. She had never seen such passion from the other woman before. Ever since they first met, Tamao had never allowed her temper to flare, treating things that would have provoked Motoko into hurting someone with a calm, casual indifference. That remarkable sense of serene control had been something Motoko always admired about the other woman. To see her nearly frothing at the mouth about things like THIS…!

"Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you!" Tamao apologized as she sniffed back her tears.

Both gazed at each other, and then Motoko giggled. Soon, both were laughing. After getting a chance to work that out of their systems, the kendō-ka breathed out. "I have to admit, I've never seen you be so passionate about anything before," she admitted. "I know — having got the chance to play with the…dataPADD, is it called?" At Tamao's nod, Motoko sighed. "That your ancestors on Sagussa didn't care at all for things like child abuse and child abandonment. Do you…have you…?"

The other woman nodded. "Hai. Ever since I began to comprehend how lost you were at times." Tamao then leaned against the bulkhead, crossing her arms. "Your grandparents and parents kept pretty strong ties to people all over Japan. The Kōkyo, the leadership of the Magical Associations from Fukuoka up to Sapporo, Tsukuyomi-sama, various national government groups, various prefecture groups, the other major martial art schools…!" She took a deep breath. "Why didn't they think when you elected to take up Hina's offer to come live at her hotel to try to prepare you for what mainstream society was like? Yes, being trained in the ways of Bushidō is alright; many people in society these days still believe in the morals, virtues and traditions the samurai of old adhered to. But so much has changed from the days of those tales your sister, mother and grandmothers always told you about! Did they — much less Hina — think of how _**lost**_ you might have been?!"

Motoko took a moment to consider than, and then she sighed. "I was that, wasn't I?"

"Yeah, you were," Tamao stated. "Painfully so."

"And pain to you is hurtful even when felt from another," the other woman noted. She then blinked. "What's this about the promise girl Urashima wanted to find?"

"Well, to answer the ten thousand yen question as to who it is, it's Naru," Tamao stated. "Fifteen years ago, Keitarō-san, Naru and Otohime Mutsumi were all staying at the Hinata-sō. They played together a lot. I think you noticed they all like _Liddo-kun's Big Adventure_?"

"Hai, I did notice that. So what…?" Motoko then blinked. "Did they all vow this? How could Urashima make a vow both to Naru-sempai and Mutsumi-sempai?"

The other woman shook her head. "That wasn't the way it happened." She then slowly exhaled. "Mutsumi-san heard this old wives tale that said that if a boy and a girl went to Tōdai together, they'd have a happy life together." A smirk crossed her face. "Which kinda shows it's an old wives tale; what about couples who went to other universities together and made good lives for themselves after they graduated?" As Motoko nodded, Tamao said, "At the time he was staying there, Keitarō-san was doing his best to help Naru get over a bout of leukaemia. You've noted that about him, haven't you?"

A reluctant nod answered her. "Hai…"

"Well, Mutsumi-san convinced both Keitarō-san and Naru that the thing about Tōdai was real and both Keitarō-san and Naru should work to get there when they grew up." Tamao then raised a finger. "Now, this part is backed up by Taeko-sama: When she heard her grandson and Naru make that promise, Hina saw it as a formal engagement for them to get married. And last year, she tricked Keitarō-san to come to the Hinata-sō — uncaring of the fact that Naru had pretty much forgot all about that promise even if she had personally vowed to go into Tōdai because she had a crush on one of her old tutors, who graduated from there…not to mention taking into account what your feelings and the others' feelings might have been about it, especially since she didn't tell any of you that she was going to make him the new manager! — as a way of bringing him back together with Naru to have that promise fulfilled."

Motoko blinked as she took a moment to consider that. "But…it was just a silly thing between three children! How old was Naru-sempai when this happened?!"

"Three."

An explosive breath escaped the kendō-ka. "How on Earth did Obā-sama think that a child of _three_ — much less a child of _five_ — could make a _**marriage agreement**_ and fully understand what it meant?! That's like what just happened to Moroboshi Ataru with this Elle woman if what his peers in Tomobiki said about what brought them together when they were children is true!" she exclaimed. "And all this was based on some old wives tale Otohime-sempai came up with?!" She then moaned. "Does Sempai know?!"

"As soon as Iori comes back up from getting her records at her bank changed around, Naru'll be told," Tamao stated, inwardly smiling that she had just planted a massive seed of mistrust in the rock-solid ball of undying gratitude Motoko had felt for two years concerning Urashima Hina. That was a very good start. She knew that hitting Motoko with the whole issue of Dō Karumi and how Hina had tried to KILL her would-be sister-in-law forty years ago wouldn't have done much to move her friend towards casting away her negative feelings for Keitarō…even though Tsuruko had told her sister about what had happened to the Kyoshō alumnus and how that had resulted in Keitarō finally foregoing his quest for the promise girl and becoming bond-mates with Karumi.

But it would come…and that would shake Motoko up badly.

_As Lyna is my witness, I don't want to hurt you, Motoko-vayae…but I'm afraid that you'll lose control of yourself once you're back inside the dorm when it comes to Keitarō-san, even if he'll be living on the other side of Hinata Creek from the main house_, the track star mused to herself. _If that happens, I KNOW Karumi's going to destroy your sword, if not sever your hands to cripple you! And Lyna protect you from Taeko-sama if you ever draw Keitarō's blood; she'll GLADLY outdo what she did in 1603 to you AND your relatives — even if they deserve it! — if that ever happened…!_

* * *

The Hinata-sō, the main banquet hall, that moment…

"Is this the right sort of milkshake to make, Negako-sen-…? Er, Negako-san?"

Negako slightly smiled on noting that Shinobu had caught herself before calling her "sensei." She then gazed on the fruit milkshake she had the younger girl make. "Excellent, Shinobu. Place it on the table, then go be with Moe."

"Hai!"

Once the younger girl was out of the room, the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū then gazed on the young woman who had just been given a whole new life for herself. Currently, Tenna Kan was having her long blonde hair — which had just been thoroughly washed, as had the rest of her body, in the nearby bathing area — gently combed by Scarlett Ryan; today was the first day everything in Japan had gone back to "normal" in the wake of Wednesday night, so the Avalonian-American would have to prepare herself for a day of classes at the Ōgusu Seminar. Tenna's original body had been magically destroyed by Taeko…but not before a thorough scan of it was made by Kidō Nanako to record the damage the poor witch had taken from the ebony meson radiation emanating from the Kasi Mountains on the north side of Molmol Island. That scan — once translated into Terran computer media — would be transmitted to Mahora for the attention of Konoe Konoemon's people for eventual relay to the International Conference of Magical Communities in Geneva to present hard evidence of what was really going on with the people of that island.

"Tenna, do you want your hair in a braid again?" Scarlett asked, her voice flicked with a strong lilt of rural Georgia; she had been created to personify the typical Southern belle…as witness her given name; her master Karan sudai-Karona had been a huge fan of _Gone With the Wind_. "It's dry enough to style it."

Tenna gazed at her before smiling, her cheeks reddening as she sensed the frank attraction the Avalonian-American English language teacher presently felt for her. "It's alright. Thank you," she said before staring wide-eyed at Negako and Taeko, now seated across the coffee table from where she was relaxing. "Why…?"

"Your body was poisoned, Tenna-ya," Taeko answered. "I haven't had as much experience with ebony meson as my friend, but once Negako showed me how badly your body — and your soul — was scarred from the radiation emitting from those mountains near Tirtha-ssi's home village, there was just no choice but to give you a body that could resist it should you ever go home."

"You are aware that the effects of mesonium radiation from different sources can cancel each other out unless enough energy is poured into the denser format to overwhelm the natural defences the lesser format offer," Negako stated. "That was part of the thesis you wrote to obtain your mastery in potions and wished to do a full analysis of the 'crystal of life' when you studied at Salem. You received a near-perfect score on that thesis paper, which saw you gain the mastery you sought in that subject on graduation."

A deep blush crossed the young witch's face. "I was always fascinated by the Protector of All Life and the Power Jewel," Tenna confessed before she scowled. "Even if she was friends with the woman who excluded us from the ICMC after it was fully established in the early 1950s…!"

"Tenna, when you decided to study at Salem, did you just show up at the front gates and demanded to be allowed to join the freshman class?" Negako asked.

A firm shake of the head answered her. "No! I was recommended by alumni of the school who noticed my bouts of accidental magic; they contacted friends of theirs at the admissions department."

"Then I ask you why did your country's representative to the International Conference just barge into the chambers in Geneva and demanded that he be accepted as Molmol's official ambassador there without undergoing the administrative process that was laid down by the Conference's founders — who wanted to avoid being dominated by the nations of Europe, whose magical leaders were still outraged at Gellert Grindelwald's and Yomigawa Tsukiko's actions that forever denied them the power of the magicals from the colonies they had enslaved over the years — at its initial meeting in 1946," Negako said. "Did not your nation's current Royal Wizard fight at Tsukiko's side in World War Two?"

"Of course Mistress Surya did that!" Tenna stated…and then she blinked. "But she…!" she began before shaking her head. "She did something…"

Sensing the poor witch struggle with trying to drudge up memories, Negako gazed on the blonde Avalonian-American standing behind her. "Scarlett, assist her."

Nodding, Scarlett leaned down to gently touch Tenna on both sides of her face. The Terran-turned-Avalonian Molmolite witch tensed for a second…and then her chestnut eyes began to flutter slightly as the other woman's well-honed mind briefly merged with hers to locate the memory in question and bring it forth. After a moment, the bond faded and Scarlett pulled her hands back. Tenna blinked before she sighed. "It was in a pensieve memory I saw once when I was studying with the Mistress," she declared. "It was just after Supreme Mugwump Thompkins expelled Master Yanba from Geneva. The Mistress warned King Laran that trying to force ourselves on the ICMC in the wake of the War of Liberation and Grindelwald's War was the fastest way of ensuring we would NEVER be recognized in either the magical or normal sphere. But…" She shook her head. "Why…?"

"All you really thought of — and you never were challenged on that belief — when you saw that was just another example of the 'stupid white man' trying to keep the people of Molmol down," Scarlett said as she gave Tenna a warm squeeze on the witch's shoulders. "And in a way, you had a right to feel that way. America just left you to wither on the vine during World War Two since they didn't feel Molmol was strategic enough to warrant a direct invasion like Tarawa did. After the war, they said 'We're taking over,' not bothering to ask your people if they wanted America to take over. Then they tested their atomic bombs on Bikini and Enewetak, forcing your people to take in islanders from those atolls with no guarantee on how long they'd have to wait to go home…" She shook her head. "Americans are okay. Their leaders…"

Tenna laughed on hearing that. "You're just like Big Brother John!"

"And he is?" Negako asked.

"John Magill, the chief of the Royal Molmol Fire Protection Service. He's from Detroit, ex-Navy — I don't recall his rate or rating — who decided to retire and come to our island after a port visit ten years ago. He's been there ever since."

Taeko hummed. "Ah, yes! Tirtha-ssi wrote about him in the analysis of the situation on Molmol she composed with that bright young witch from China who met up with her today and helped examine Kaolla-ya. She was struck by the fact that John-ssi wasn't as affected by the ebony meson in the Kasi Mountains as her own mother had been before she was born."

Tenna breathed out. "Well, the capital is nowhere close to the Kasi Mountains. It's also upwind from them; the capital is close to the edge of the Windy Desert."

"Which is where a suspected vein of ruby mesonium is located, thus explaining the amount of particles of that material in Kaolla's blood," Negako noted.

Tenna gaped. "Ruby meson?! In the Princess?!"

"Are you aware of the Neuwied Test for Magical Ability?"

"Yes! I studied how to do the diagnostic spells at Salem."

"Kaolla only scored fifty-two points when she was tested this morning."

Stunned silence fell. "Oh, Allāh…!" Tenna then breathed out.

"Thus, a potential threat — one born of ignorance — to the child you have vowed to protect has now presented itself," Negako stated. "I remember meeting Surya when I was within Moroboshi Ryūbi's mind, protecting Emperor Hirohito when he bestowed honours on several of Tsukiko's warriors for her successful campaign in liberating India's magicals from the British in 1943. I was struck right away by her sense of confidence; it was enormous. Virtually on the same level Albus Dumbledore would later demonstrate when he came to Japan in 1946 to demand Tsukiko admit to war crimes as a way to preserve what was left of the International Confederation of Wizards in the face of the rise of the new International Conference of Magical Communities." Her eyebrow arched. "Look what he did to Harold Potter."

THAT made Tenna wince; the many failures of the late Headmaster of Hogwarts when it came to the Boy-Who-Lived — known now thanks to his total defeat of Voldemort and the Death Eaters in the late summer of 1997 as the "Man-Who-Won" — had been plastered across the planet by the magical press, let by the infamous Rita Skeeter of the _Daily Prophet_. "True…!" She rose to walk over to the doorway leading to the patio that led to the hot springs, gazing outside to see the labors under Tanya Lipińsky's control finish the demolition of the Forbidden Annex so the final row of cottages could be installed north of Hinata Creek. A small team of labors were also erecting a stone gate on the south side of the bridge that crossed the creek below the cataract that carried the creek's waters down as they flowed from the source pond higher up on Ōgusu-yama to empty into the Sagami Sea close to Hinata Station. "She loves him, you know."

"I am aware of the feelings Kaolla-ya — both sides of her — have for Keitarō-ya," Taeko stated. "But ask yourself this: Does she have the right to force herself into a situation where a _**soul-bond**_ exists between my brother and another woman?"

The Molmolite witch blinked before shaking her head. "She'll be heartbroken," she breathed out. "I was there when the Princess underwent the Crimson Moon transformation just prior to her coming to live here. I sensed how mature that side of her was…and how hesitant she might be to agree to marry the King when Mistress Surya asked her about it. The Mistress was disappointed in that — after all, her loyalty to the Throne is quite strong, so any promise the King made to the Princess has the full weight of magical law in the Mistress' mind — but I could understand it. The Princess was _twelve_ at the time. That's far too soon — even for the staleblood fools in Europe! — to consider something as life-changing as marriage! I was glad Mrs. Hina allowed her to come here to get away from the Palace! And…" She sighed. "Much that I realize how much you love your brother, Lady Taeko, I know the Princess loves him too! Those fembots the Lady Karumi damaged were designed to be his lovers!"

"Then why didn't Kaolla-ya tell him she had created those girls to serve him that way?" Taeko asked. "I'm sure he might have appreciated such intimate companions if he knew about them. Especially with the frustrations he experienced trying to pursue something with Naru-ya! I think he would have really appreciated their also being programmed to 'play' with Naru-ya and Motoko-ya so that some of them could keep them distracted while their sisters spent time with him." She sighed. "Might have taught them all some things."

"Indeed," Negako trilled.

Tenna blinked before nodding. "I would like to speak to Lord Keitarō and Lady Karumi before I go to my countrymen to make sure they don't start screaming to the King about my being 'captured' and launch something foolish. If you will grant that, Lady Taeko?"

"Don't worry about Hina's little troupe of thugs alerting your friends about you being missing," Taeko stated as she stood, walking over to pick up the sundae Shinobu had made for the newest sister of the Hinata Avalonians. "Some of Karumi-ya's friends from her first life during the Samguk years in China came upon them just as I brought you over the wall. I doubt Hikaru-ssi and his friends will be speaking to your friends anytime soon. But first, you enjoy Shinobu-ya's nice creation here."

The sundae was handed over…just as the squeak of an empty stomach echoed from Tenna's abdomen. The blushing witch nodded as she proceeded to do as her host bade…

* * *

Space Factory #319, lunchtime…

"'…the Master of Entropy gave Atar a fraction of his power so that he would be strong enough to destroy Toghmoghbiki and free Ram from the influence of the denizens of Toghmoghbiki. So Atar went forth to free the one he desired as his child-mate, destroying all of Toghmoghbiki and casting all the denizens who had so threatened Ram into the embrace of the Te'a. In doing so, natural Entropy was unleashed upon all of Creation, thus bringing balance to the Universe. In freeing Ram, Atar also freed the Master, making him realize his place in maintaining that balance. He thanked Atar for freeing him from his own foolishness, then became one with the Te'a to serve Its Ultimate Purpose when it came to the natural end of all things. To make the end of innocence, Atar and Ram planted a memory tree in the shade of the great neutronium dome of Tere'na-korgh to remind all of Sagussa of the cost of blinding oneself to the truth of the balance between Creation and Entropy.' Computer, stop recording."

"_Recording stopped. New instruction?_" a polite male voice then asked.

"Memorize entry Konno-Mitsune-Five in station mainframe, copy entry Konno-Mitsune-Five to dataPADD unit registered to Konno Mitsune, new title for the copy 'The End of Toghmoghbiki.'"

"_Entry Konno-Mitsune-Five memorized in station mainframe. Copy of entry Konno-Mitsune-Five made to dataPADD registered to Konno Mitsune under title 'The End of Toghmoghbiki_,'" the computer dutifully reported. "_New instruction?_"

"End request. Further requests to follow."

"_Acknowledged._"

With that, the would-be reporter groaned as she leaned her head back on the pillow. She then grinned as a hand with the softest skin she had ever felt on ANYONE — even a baby! — stroked her forehead to brush some of her maple fudge-shaded hair away. Mitsune turned to grin at her current companion. "Wish you could do that with the rest of me?" she coyly asked as she gave Sakuramachi Yūko a saucy wink.

"Damn straight I would," the would-be civil defence officer said as she gave Mitsune a sensual wink in return, licking her lips in a way that — if the would-be writer could feel her body's reaction to such a blatant come-on — would have probably left her with soaked panties. "Believe me, once you're out of here…"

Both of them giggled before Yūko leaned down to warmly kiss the wounded woman on the lips. Mitsune responded instantly; unlike Naru and Motoko, the would-be writer had always been very comfortable with being sexual. While she was no lesbian by any stretch of the imagination, she did admit to being bi-curious. All her lovers in the past had been women; Mitsune understood very well what allowing her maidenhead to be taken by a man would mean…especially if the rumours got out — as they always did in a place like Chihaya High School, which was where she had gone to before graduating — that she was willing to put out to anyone on request. That would have haunted Mitsune for years afterward…which, when added to her being an effective "welfare baby," would have seen to it that any future job prospects would have been quite bleak.

In that way, she had been grateful beyond belief when Urashima Hina had allowed her to come stay at the Hinata-sō without worrying about things like rent and other such expenses. That act had given Mitsune a REAL family she could call her own after years of putting up to a drunk father and a lazy-ass mother, neither of whom could hold down even the most basic of jobs for more than six months at a time. And while she gladly admitted to pushing people's buttons for some amusement, Mitsune wouldn't deliberately hurt anyone; having lived in shabby apartments her whole life and watched her father unleash all sorts of abuse on a mother when he had too much to drink — the would-be writer had long thanked all the Kami that Konno Kyōichi had never turned his anger on his only child — had driven the lesson home that there were people who enjoyed hurting other people. Seeing how much her mother Yumiko had been hurt by her husband's actions — even if she was just too stupid to do anything except stand there and take it! — Mitsune long ago decided she would never be like her father.

Yet — as her own aunt Hikari told her last night when they had met up for the first time in some years — Mitsune had actually done that to Urashima Hina's own grandson.

And Keitarō's ultimate response to it…!

_Allowing a_ **tokkaebi** _of all things — and one Motoko-chan would be scared to death of! — to become the new landlady, to say anything of being Keitarō-kun's new_ **sister** _atop that!_ the would-be writer mused as she continued to kiss Yūko, uncaring that her new girlfriend would be mentally listening in to such thoughts. _Even worse, actually becoming bond-mates and a fiancé to a_ **tōshi** _of all people. Especially one who was nearly_ **killed** _by Obā-chan…!_ — Mitsune still found that story hard to believe even if there were many people who would gladly confirm it when asked — _…just to make sure she couldn't marry Obā-chan's brother! That's going to really hit Naru-chan the wrong way when she gets the news about this woman! I know she was slowly falling in love with Keitarō-kun given how much time they spent together! And now…_

«It'll be alright.»

Hearing Yūko's words in her mind, Mitsune blinked before she pulled away — as much as she could — from the other woman's delightful lips. "What do you mean?"

The raven-haired tomboy straightened herself. "Well, I met Naru when I was helping Kaoru with her while you were spending time talking with your aunt," Yūko stated as she moved to shift a chair closer to her so she could sit down beside the wounded Terran's bed. "From what I sensed of her, she doesn't see Keitarō as a potential husband. Yes, she likes him deep down, but it's nowhere close to that type of love."

The other woman blinked. "Impossible!"

Yūko chuckled. "You can't lie to a touch-telepath or an empath unless you have the right sort of mental defences to protect your thoughts, Mitsune," she gently scolded. "And Naru doesn't have those defences. Her thoughts were an open book to me."

Mitsune blinked several times as she tried to comprehend that. "How did I misread her so badly?" she then demanded. "They spent so much time together…"

"Studying for the Centre Test," Yūko reminded her. "Not to mention Fate tossing them into the other person's path when they failed the Test and headed away from the Hinata-sō to take the chance to enjoy some time alone and think over what happened. Then Fate threw Mutsumi into the situation. You girls came along almost right after that, remember?"

Mitsune considered that for a moment before nodding in understanding. "Right. And two nights after we got back from Okinawa, Keitarō-kun met Toshiko-san and everything went right back to when he first came to the dorm last year. Except for the fact that Naru-chan, Motoko-chan and Su-chan — not to mention me — couldn't get NEAR the guy thanks to Toshiko-san and her friends always butting in like they did."

"That bothered you, didn't it?"

Mitsune smirked. "How'd you feel when someone punches you in the gut after snapping the wrists of two of your closest friends, not to mention breaking the jaw of the woman who kept watch over your place of residence for a couple months?" Here, she sighed. "I mean, I can understand where Keitarō-kun's coming from. He wasn't asked to be the manager up front, wasn't warned we were living there and he wasn't even told the hotel he knew of was now a girls dorm house. Atop that, there're the false power of attorney papers and the property tax issues." The would-be writer had been shown copies of the documents in question — which had been scanned into the slowly-growing HyperNet by the tech guru of the Hinata Avalonians after the copy that had been registered with Hinata City Hall was brought to the Hinata-sō by Mayor Takada Tamasuke — with the help of Shiina Kaoru when Mitsune's aunt had told her about that. "And yeah, Naru-chan and Motoko-chan did go pretty overboard with the guy over the last year; I'm scared of what this Karumi girl'll do to them if they try any of their stunts with Keitarō-kun once we're back on solid ground again." She shook her head. "Can't believe that Motoko-chan actually hit the guy all the way to _**Tomobiki**_…!"

"Four times," Yūko confirmed. "Three times, he fell on Ataru-kun's head. Last time, he bashed Hensō, Jariten and Ataru-kun's mother right into the front walkway of the Moroboshi home. All were knocked out for a day, which gave Ataru-kun a break from the abuse they forced on him; that's according to Shasta Ianson, the Elder Mother in Tomobiki." She smirked. "Couldn't have happened to three worse monsters!"

The would-be writer blinked. "But isn't Hensō an Avalonian herself? Even if her soul was swapped with Lum-san's soul thanks to that curse, she was born as one of you."

Yūko sighed. "Hai, that's true…but we can't help her as long as her father doesn't accept that she's not his real daughter and she doesn't accept what the Lady K'ekhech said two months ago as the truth. If we even tried, he'll gladly launch a war against us. We can't fight them head-on, not in the shape we're in right now; that's why we need allies to stand beside us and bully the Urusians into submission." She then nodded in annoyance. "And _yes_, Jariten didn't have competent adult supervision over him while he was on Earth because his mom's such a fanatic about arsonists and he has flame-breath powers! _Yes_, Ataru-kun's mother is still in mourning over his twin brother even after all these years! And _yes_, Ataru-kun was being used by Thoughtmistress-prime Negako as a ki conduit to get a body for herself since the option we could give wasn't known to her! But still…!" She shrugged. "How can you compare any of the other people inside Tomobiki to Moroboshi Ataru after what he just did?"

Hearing that made Mitsune smile in understanding. Despite what her new girlfriend had just said, Ataru hadn't been alone in helping liberate the Avalonians. Atop his own sisters, there had been dozens of celestial dragons from both Noukiios and Yehisril as well as at least ten thousand Noukiite and Yehisrite warriors riding on five hundred warships — each compatible to Redet Invader's own command ship that had appeared over the skies of Tomobiki the previous June — who had gone to the Phentax system four days ago. And while the idea of actually liberating the bioroids had been percolating in the hearts and minds of many of the Flower Youth of Noukiios — all Noukiite-form Avalonians in body — for many years, they hadn't really acted on it before. That is — from what Mitsune herself had learned through the station's computers, which had been updated with information from the bioroid factory as well as the Noukiites and Yehisrites still in the solar system — until a fateful meeting on the planet Okusei between the Moroboshi siblings and the Imperial Chancellor of the Outmarches herself concerning a possible threat to Earth from Phentax Two in retaliation for Ataru's divorcing Hensō on Uru.

Which — if things had run to the same stupid script as what happened after the Tag Race the previous June during the incident with the space-taxi and the theft of the world's oil by that hack's co-workers because of an unpaid fare — would have resulted in the United Nations _**demanding**_ that Ataru formally apologize to Hensō and welcome her back into his life again.

If that had ever happened, the poor girl would have probably been killed by Ataru's sister Hiromi — who, like Dō Karumi, was a tōshi; Mitsune hadn't learned her battle name yet — the next time Hensō pulled something stupid with her "husband."

THAT would have set off the Niphentaxians living in Tomobiki — whose leader, a guy name Hoss, had ultimate control over the anti-matter bomb buried in the town Ginza — and make them move to destroy the "Great Evil" for his killing their precious "goddess."

If Moroboshi Negako hadn't sensed the bomb's presence in time…!

Mitsune shuddered before sighing. "There was no choice."

Yūko — who hadn't touched her — perked. "What?"

"Liberating you guys."

The other woman nodded. "Yeah, that's true."

"But how would you convince the people of Tomobiki that what Ataru-kun did was the right thing?" the would-be writer then mused. "Much that I personally wouldn't mind Ataru-kun and his sisters living at the Hinata-sō if they decided to get away from that place once and for all, Naru-chan and Motoko-chan would raise a huge stink over it. It'd be forcing the poor guy out of one abusive place and potentially dumping him into another. And what's to stop idiots like Mendō or the Stormtroopers from coming down to harass all of us?"

"Maybe you can help."

That made Mitsune blink. "Eh?!"

Yūko sighed. "Mitsune, I'm not trying to sound like your aunt or keep hammering you about what you did to Keitarō-kun over the last year…but you got to admit, she's got a good point about you effectively freeloading at that dorm house over the last couple of years," she stated in her most civil voice. "Like it or not, you're not being given a choice in the matter now. It's either get a job or get kicked out of that place…which means that you may be forced to go live with your parents until September, when you turn twenty and can finally tell them to go fuck themselves." As the other woman laughed on hearing the would-be civil defence officer say that, Yūko added, "I doubt they'll tolerate you living with your aunt in Ōsaka."

A snort answered her. "Not really sure about that. Baka Aho Kā-san and Baka Aho Tō-san haven't talked to me at all since I left their apartment two years ago. I don't even know if they're alive or dead." Another snort escaped Mitsune as she added, "Don't really care, either." She then sighed. "Still, it's just so damned HARD, Yūko! I mean…!"

"You want to do it but can't get the energy TO do it."

A tired nod twitched the other woman's head. "Yeah…"

A hum escaped the raven-haired tomboy. "Well, you've already started doing something."

That made Mitsune perked. "Eh?!"

"Your recordings in the station's computer," Yūko said as she gave Mitsune a knowing smile. "As soon as people develop a way to convert our computer data to something that can be read on Terran computers, you can start selling those recordings on the Internet. You don't need to sit in front of a computer and type things out, much less write things longhand. Isn't that what you've always hated about writing?"

That made the would-be writer blink for a moment before she turned to gaze at the deckhead over her diagnostic bed as her mind began to churn on what her new girlfriend just proposed to her. Yes, Yūko had been right when it came to the whole issue of writing her own material. Mitsune _loved_ the creative process of putting words together and making a readable story, document or news article; it was just the damned physical WORK that went into writing or typing something out that was a massive pain in the posterior. And while she knew deep down that she wanted to do everything to NOT live her life like her father lived his hollow excuse of a life, Mitsune had inherited some of his bad habits; his laziness and addiction to alcohol being the two primary issues.

_Why the fuck didn't Baka Aho Tō-san and Baka Aho Kā-san accept Oba-chan's offer to take me in when she made it all those years ago?_ she then wondered as she recalled the few times Hikari had engaged in screaming matches with her brother concerning how he was wasting away performing dead end job after dead end job when he had actually done well in high school and could have pushed himself hard if he only had gone to university. _I was just another damned mouth to feed; it was a miracle at times that Baka Aho Kā-san was able to afford enough food for me to eat!_ She then snorted. _Then again, she was just as lazy as the idiot she married, so it shouldn't have been too surprising…!_

She then shook her head. It was no use harping on the past; all that lurked back there were a metric tonne of hurtful memories that — if she reflected on them too much — would immediately make her scream for the nearest sake bottle. That wouldn't help her, especially now that she was aboard a space station full of people who were hurting to one extent or another — like Shiina Kaoru, Sakuramachi Yūko also grieved for a man back on Phentax Twenty-one who had loved her as a person and might have been the father of her child hadn't the adult citizens of the village of New Brighthope been massacred by hit squads sent by the leaders of the Church of Lum in a useless attempt to keep their slaves in chains — and were concerned about more vital matters such as the basics of survival and making a decent future for themselves as a free people.

Atop that, she had some ugly problems waiting for her back at the Hinata-sō.

She couldn't count on any favouritism from Urashima Keitarō anymore. The spineless wimp that had come to the Hinata-sō a year ago began to die two weeks ago in the wake of Mizote Toshiko's accident on the Hinata-dōri…and was no doubt gasping his last breath now that he was bonded soul-to-soul to a _tōshi_ of all things.

There could be no appeal to Urashima Hina in this case. The matriarch of the Urashima Clan of Hayama was in a coma in a hospital in Belgium thanks to her playing around with things she shouldn't have when she was Mitsune's age…and how that had been turned against her by a certain tokkaebi, who possessed Keitarō to break Dō Karumi out of a four-decade long imprisonment.

Even worse, Keitarō had decided to officially turn over his duties as landlord of the Hinata-sō to his newly-adopted sister Taeko…who, in spirit, was the same tokkaebi who had helped free his future wife from the tunnels under the Hinata-sō. And while allowing a woman to become the new landlady would make things a little more comfortable for Naru and especially Motoko, that Taeko had been the same being who had nearly slaughtered all of Motoko's ancestors four centuries ago would make returning to that beautiful old hot springs hotel a living nightmare for the young kendō-ka.

Also, there was the issue of the new woman in Keitarō's life, Dō Karumi. Her being an A-rank tōshi with obvious fighting skills and considerable power — Mitsune had been stunned to hear that the Kyoshō alumnus had taken out twelve of Kaolla Su's machines with flung _**chopsticks**_ fired at the right spot on Thursday afternoon! — would make her a formidable opponent for anyone who might want to hurt her future husband. Atop that, her soul-bond with Keitarō would alert her INSTANTLY in case Naru or Motoko tried their normal stunts.

Unless Motoko or Naru were REALLY lucky, Karumi would take them out in an instant…if Keitarō — once the influence of his fiancée's soul on his burned away the inhibitions he had when it came to causing other people harm — didn't give into whatever anger had been building up inside him over the last year and use what combat skills he learned from Karumi to deal with them himself. Which, when combined with the magic Taeko gave her new little brother, would make him something out of a nightmare to either of those girls.

And if THAT happened…

Mitsune then gulped. _What's to stop him from coming after ME?!_

After all, she had taken almost his whole _**life savings**_ — which hadn't been really much in the grander scale of things, especially when compared to the amount of money Keitarō would have to pay for the property taxes to avert the seizure of the Hinata-sō at the start of April — to effectively waste on horse racing bets.

Atop that, she HAD provoked a few things with Naru and Motoko that ended up with either of them freaking out on Keitarō to alleviate the boredom.

Most of all, she didn't pay any rent for her room at the Hinata-sō.

The "free lunch" — as Mitsune's aunt quoted from Karumi — would end on the first of April.

_Shit!_ the would-be writer moaned. _Why couldn't things stay the same?!_

She then perked on feeling a pair of soft lips caress hers. _Then again…!_ Mitsune purred to herself as she deepened the kiss with Yūko…

* * *

On the bridge crossing the Hinata Creek north of the Hinata-sō…

"You ask a lot of me, Tenna-san."

Hearing the statement from Urashima Keitarō — the first thing he had said to the witch from Molmol after she had been escorted here by Scarlett Ryan before the Avalonian-American had to go to work — as he gazed down the creek towards the eastern end of the grounds, Tenna Kan tried not to wince on noting the total lack of emotion in his voice. She had expected much from this man who had put up to a whole year of "playing" — even now that her mind was clear of the influence of the ebony meson buried in the Kasi Mountains, she still couldn't call what had happened between the princess she served and the man before her anything else…though it was now quite clear thanks to the empathy her new body possessed that he thought of it as nothing more than blatant assault after blatant assault on his person by a spoiled child — with Kaolla Su. But she hadn't expected such iron-hard emotional control from him to the degree that it was actually _hurting_ her…especially since it was doubled thanks to his soul-mate, now seated on a rock near the south end of the bridge that would connect the main part of the Hinata-sō to the Hinata Creek Cottages. And that didn't shield Tenna from the empathic black hole that marked the presence of the Earth Angel — as magicals and mystics worldwide called Moroboshi Negako; that stemmed from prophecies first spoken in 1808 about the rise of a being born from the knowledge of the Immortal Master himself and the eternal magic of Mother Earth, who would fully awaken in the midst of a typhoon near Hokkaidō — who now stood beside the now-human Destroyer of Kyōto, Keitarō's sister Taeko.

At least _she_ was showing some support for Tenna's desire to seek mercy from Keitarō concerning Kaolla being allowed to return to the Hinata-sō.

"I realize that, Urashima-sama," the witch said, deliberately using Japanese honorifics to show she was serious about her words. "You feel that you were forced to babysit the Princess when you were tricked into assuming the position of manager at the Hinata-sō. I can understand how your problems with the Princess simply added onto the frustrations you've felt over the last year concerning how your being forced to be the manager here has interfered in your quest to enter Tōkyō University. But the Princess' feelings for you — in both sides of her soul — are honest."

"And I'm to just accept that? Say it's all forgiven and allow her to come back to cause me more headaches? Not to mention the amount of damage she's caused because of her stupid weapons and all that?" Keitarō coolly asked. "I'm not a Muslim, Tenna-san. Yes, having mistresses and concubines was allowed here in Japan for the longest time, but I'm not interested in that sort of thing. For a long time, I quested for the hand and heart of one person. That didn't work out. Fate then brought my fiancée into my life. And right now, she's not in the mood to share." He gazed on Tenna. "Didn't what she do Thursday afternoon tell you people something?"

"They were only created…"

"To be my dutch wives," he cut her off. "Yes, I know now. Were I interested in that sort of thing, I'd like the idea of having a dozen loyal sex-robots seeing to all my personal needs." He gazed on her as she felt a flash of anger burst through the emotional shield around his heart. "But did she think that I would trust any invention of hers after being nearly shot to pieces several times thanks to her machines? Do you think that after I finally got her out of this place and as far from me as possible, I'd just say it would be forgiven and she could come back to start all over again? No, that's not going to happen, Tenna-san. I have my life back under my control, which is the way I like it. And I will NOT allow your precious princess or the other idiots I've had to deal with here since I was tricked into coming here to be their resident punching bag and target dummy by that senile old bat who WAS my grandmother any chance to take that away from me."

He pointed to the gate now set up to protect the south end of the stone bridge he stood on. Said gate — like the Shōgimon on the south end of the property near the Wafū Chabō Hinata — was also modelled after one of the stone portals that could be found all over Korea. This one — the wooden sign over the portal on the south side read **SHIWAMON** — was, Tenna learned from Taeko, modelled after the south gate that led into Namhansan-sŏng, the mountain fortress located to the southeast of Sŏul. Given that Urashima Taeko's spiritual place of birth had been at the future site of that fortification, it was understandable that she would want to have some physical tribute to her homeland close to her. "When it's all set up, that gate will be magically sealed against ANYONE who would wish to cause anyone living here…" — he pointed to the new cottages being built — "…any harm. My fiancée and I will be two of them. Once the other gates we'll install on this part of the property are in place, the whole south shore of the creek will be walled in. Not high enough to block the view of the valley, much less the cataract here or up the side of the mountain…but high enough to allow magical defences like the ones that now surround the grounds to be installed. You know how good they are."

Tenna shakily nodded her head. "I do…"

"Good," Keitarō stated. "Now, as you and I both are well aware, your princess doesn't like being locked out of things. On the one hand, that's quite understandable. She's still a child in many ways. Children always get the urge to look into places they can't access. Except in _this_ case, we're dealing with a child who wouldn't think twice of building a stupid robot like that replica of Tamago that she might have used to try to kill _me_!" As Tenna winced on hearing the crack in his voice, he then crossed his arms. "We all know where _that_ road leads to, don't we?"

A reluctant nod twitched the witch's head. "Hai…"

"So the answer is still 'no,'" he finally declared. "I will NOT allow your princess to return alone back to the Hinata-sō. If your king or the idiots that advise him decide that's not right because they want to keep spoiling the little brat, that's too bad. Because if they try something, remember that I now have a friend who OWNS _fifty starships_ up in orbit." He pointed up in emphasis. "You've probably seen how _well-armed_ those ships are on NHK. Would you like me to ask my friend to arrange a MISFIRE? One that would _**accidentally**_ burn your 'kingdom's' capital city into the BEDROCK?"

Tenna croaked on hearing THAT threat. "Urashima-sama…!"

"Quiet!" he hissed out. "That's the problem with you people from Molmol. You demand, demand, demand and keep on demanding without understanding the concept of 'no.' You wonder WHY the rest of the world doesn't want anything to do with you? It's because you people DON'T LISTEN! So I'm going to MAKE you listen…even if I have to see your whole country BURNED to the ground to drive the point home!" With that, he turned away. "Not that anyone — not even the Chinese! — would really miss you!"

As he moved to march off, she cried out, "_**WAIT!**_"

He stopped, not bothering to look at her. "What is it?"

"If the Princess' governess came to live here, can she come back?!" Tenna pleaded.

"Tirtha-san is one person. She's also the Elder Mother of her community," Keitarō coldly declared. "She can't abandon her sisters back on Molmol. Atop that, even if she DID come, she couldn't keep up with that…"

"I'll be here, too!" Tenna declared as her eyes teared. "Please, Urashima-sama…!"

"Again, not good enough," he flatly declared. "What about the other fools from your country in this town? To say anything of idiots from your island who won't tolerate any sort of insult against your princess? After all, dealing with the little brat's no different than what my friend Moroboshi Ataru had to deal with when it came to his 'wife' for a half-year. How simple can this be? I do NOT trust anyone not of Avalonian blood from your island. Make sure you make it clear to your king when you see him next."

With that, he headed off. Before Tenna could try to stop him, a hand clamped down on her shoulder. "You got a message to relay to the brat's cousin," Karumi stated in a voice as frigid as a mid-winter Arctic wind. "Better get moving."

With that, the Kyoshō alumnus calmly headed off after her fiancé, leaving a stunned witch behind as she tried to comprehend what just happened…

…while, unseen by her, Negako and Taeko shared a knowing look.

* * *

A minute later, Keitarō walked into the small cabin that had been chosen by Mizote Toshiko as her new place of residence; it was one of the first ones to be reasonably completed and furnished with the basics by the construction teams brought down from Space Factory #319 at the request of Tanya Lipińsky. While the place was still lacking in creature comforts, that would change as soon as the motorcycle enthusiast got hold of two portable materialiser pads so she could shift her personal belongings from her old apartment near the west end of the Hinata-dōri. As she relaxed on the sofa in the small living room, she then nodded as Keitarō came inside before turning back to gaze on the sheaf of papers supplied to her by Hinata City Hall concerning a couple closed-down automotive repair shops in the city she might want to take over to establish her new motorcycle repair business.

Also with Keitarō's first true girlfriend at this time was the other girl of the Hinata Avalonians who loved motorbikes, Kadō Nami; she was busy in the nearby kitchenette preparing tea and snacks. While he hadn't yet sensed the spark of a potential _marei'cha_ bond form between the two, Keitarō had learned through some of the others that Toshiko and Nami were starting to show obvious signs of being very attracted to each other beyond the standard intimate level of friendliness Avalonians considered natural. He was grateful for that; he owed Toshiko a lot for giving him the chance to finally move forward in his life after so long and felt a touch of guilt — even if she wouldn't ever think any less of him — at not paying as much attention to her as he had before he met his current fiancée. Getting her a bond-mate would be a good way to…

His mouth suddenly exploded with pure passion as he felt Toshiko's lips gently caress his own. As the door opened to allow Karumi to come inside, Keitarō felt a brief surge of panic…before musical laughter echoed through the link he had with his fiancée. He then blinked as Toshiko pulled away from him, her grey eyes sparkling with mirth and mischievousness…before he relaxed as Karumi hugged him from behind. Taking a deep breath, he then smiled. "Was I being THAT obvious?" he wondered.

"You were," Toshiko said as she returned to her papers and a grinning Nami came over with a tray of snacks and a small tea service. As Karumi moved to sit beside Keitarō, the sandy-haired motorcycle enthusiast added, "And thank you for being so caring."

"Unlike some people, you deserve it, Toshiko-chan," he said as he reached over to gently grasp her free hand and give it a warm squeeze.

Nami then handed him a cup of tea. "Are you alright, Keitarō-kun?" she asked.

He sighed as he gave the amethyst-eyed biker with the hip-length raven hair a sad smile. "I just threatened to ask Hiromi-san to destroy all of Molmol and kill over two hundred thousand people, Nami-chan," he said. "Tenna-san was pleading with me to take Kaolla back. Offered to have Tirtha-san come with her to live here, along with staying here herself to look after her, too." He shook his head. "But what about the other idiots in town? What about the idiots back in Molmol that wouldn't like me dictating to their princess?"

"You did the right thing," Karumi assured him before she turned his head so they could gaze into the other person's eyes. "By the way, that was very well done."

"I agree," Nami said as she moved to serve tea for herself and Toshiko. "We felt your control all the way from here. It was almost perfect." She then hummed. "Give Tenna-san some time to think it over, Keitarō-kun. She's like Kaolla-chan in a way. She's not evil by any stretch of the imagination…but her sense of discipline is non-existent. She's finally got the chance to rebuild it…"

"So does Kaolla-chan…once we get her away from the idiots that want to hurt her and help her gain full control over herself and her powers," Toshiko added…

…before everyone perked on sensing an oncoming beacon of young energy that was driven by a heady mixture of hate, shame, fear and sorrow. "That's Shinobu-chan!" Keitarō called out as he leapt off the couch and headed to the front door.

Opening it and stepping out, he suddenly found himself with his arms full of a crying middle school freshman. "_**SEMPAI!**_" Shinobu wailed before she began to sob.

"Keitarō-kun!"

His head snapped over to see a woman in the white-and-red kimono-and-hakama uniform of a Shintō shrine miko come smartly across the bridge as fast as she could move while still trying to look dignified. Akae Ayako was — despite her being an Avalonian — one of the senior miko at the Ōgusu-jinja, a shrine just to the southeast of the Hinata-sō which was dedicated to the kami of the mountain that divided Hinata from Yokosuka, not to mention all the minor kami such as the spirit of the Hinata Creek, the spirits of the various hot springs that dotted this part of the Miura Peninsula and the natives of the area who had fallen fighting for the Shōwa Emperor in World War Two. Possessing shoulder length dark grey hair and golden-brown eyes, she had been the physically youngest of Keitarō's dates before everything went crazy on Wednesday; she looked like a woman who had just enjoyed her Coming of Age Day this year.

She was also the only person of Keitarō's would-be girlfriends who had actually caused physical body harm to any of the residents of the Hinata-sō after Toshiko sent Naru, Motoko and Kaolla to the hospital two weeks ago. When she had come to visit Keitarō for their date on her day away from the shrine due to menstruation — which would force her to stay away given the standard Shintō prohibition towards dealing with any blood while within the grounds of a shrine — she had been recognized right away by Motoko. On hearing what brought Ayako to the Hinata-sō, the kendō-ka freaked out and move to attack Keitarō…only to nearly get her nose smashed in by Ayako's fist! As the other tenants — who had been stunned to see a _**miko**_ of all things take down Motoko — immediately moved to help, the look they all received from Ayako nearly made them flee in fright. Of course, being threatened by her giving them very ugly curses for _always_ wrecking the harmony of the Hinata-sō made sure they stayed away from Keitarō for the rest of the day.

"What is it, Ayako-chan?!" he demanded.

She stopped, taking a deep breath. "You better come to the shrine," she then warned in a very calm voice.

He tensed…just as one of his hands landed on Shinobu's head.

"_**WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT…?!**_"

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Motoko's dropping of an honorific with Tamao's name is known in Japanese as **Yobisute**. To do this can mean one of two things: It indicates a level of considerable intimacy…or, when used in situations where such feelings of intimacy have not been properly earned, it infers a gross insult. As indicated above, you can guess which way Motoko is swinging here, of course.

2) Roman Catholics in Japan — of which, there are about 509,000 — are actually spread out across the country. Administratively, Japan is divided into sixteen ecclesiastical dioceses. However, the faith was introduced by Portuguese traders who came to **Nagasaki** in Kyūshū during the Sixteenth Century when Japan was openly trading with Europeans before the rise of the Tokugawa Shōgunate and the imposition of the **Sakoku** (literally "chained country") policies that blocked open relations between Japanese and foreigners. Such was partially provoked by the **Shimabara Rebellion** of 1637-38, which was supported by Japanese Christians who joined their countrymen in rebelling against the local daimyō due to drastic tax increases imposed on the common folk thanks to the construction of a new castle in the town of Shimabara, located today in the southeast part of Nagasaki Prefecture. Because of the Catholic support for the rebellion, Christianity in all its forms was outlawed by the leaders in Edo. This is where Motoko's belief that all Catholics should be from Kyūshū arises.

3) In the _Urusei Yatsura_ storyline continuity, this particular story begins about seven weeks after the events depicted in the first movie, _Only You_. For those who don't know of this movie, when he was a child, Ataru played a game of shadow-tag (where the person trying to tag the one who was "it" has to touch the shadow of the target with a part of his body) with a girl named **Elle**. He didn't actually tag her…but in his frustrations, he claimed he did. He wouldn't learn for ten years that doing such was seen as a **_marriage tag_** — virtually the same type of situation he would later face with Lum in the Tag Race — amongst Elle's people. What was worse, Elle would later become the QUEEN of her own planet, which turned the whole issue over who would marry Ataru into an intergalactic incident between Elle's people and Lum's. In the end, the truth got out and Elle renounced any claim of marriage to her "Honey."

As an aside, in _The Senior Year_, Mike Smith and I expanded greatly on the history, customs and traditions of the people of Elle's home planet for stories such as "Incredible Shrunken Lum" and "The Return of Kōsei Ryōki." The planet itself — also named **Elle** (demonym **Ellsian**) — runs on an elective monarchy system; the planet's Royal Senate would choose a candidate from young girls who demonstrate very high empathic potential (as the Ellsians are directly descent from Sagussan colonists who settled that world nearly thirty millennia ago). Elle has been ruled by women since the time of the **Rose Emperor** — an ancestor of the current queen — who protected that planet from the Seifukusu Dominion a millennia ago; he was the one who declared that all future rulers had to be chosen by the people's representatives in the Senate. The young woman chosen to become the new "Rose Queen" would then have her given name legally changed to "Elle" in tribute to the planet she is meant to rule; the Elle known to Ataru was born as **Amora de Rosenbach** and is the sixty-fourth Rose Queen of Elle since the days of the Rose Emperor (who was actually a distant ancestor of hers, Adam de Rosenbach). Also, in _TSY_, Mike and I said that Elle would continue to quest for her "Honey" — even going so far as to steal Ataru's DNA so they could have a daughter, **Moroboshi Amora**! — because she saw in him the same virtues that attracted Lum to him.

4) **Moroboshi Ryūbi** — as noted in other stories — is Ataru's paternal great-grandfather.

5) What happened between **Harry Potter** and **Voldemort** in the continuity of this story is described in both the background scenes and the narrative of _Wizards and Avalonians_.

6) Translations: **Samguk** — Literally meaning "Three Kingdoms," this term can be used either for the period of Chinese history between 220-280 C.E. or the period of Korean history between 57-668, not to mention the "Latter Three Kingdoms" period between 892-936; **Aho** — Kansai dialect version of "baka" (fool/idiot); **Shiwamon** — Gate of Reaching Peace (named in tribute to the **Chihwamun** at Namhansan-sŏng as noted above).

7) **Coming of Age Day** (_Seijin no Hi_) is a national holiday in Japan, always celebrated on the second Monday in January. This is the time where all people who have celebrated their twentieth birthday over the previous year are honoured and encouraged to do well in their futures. As noted before, people in Japan are considered legal adults on reaching their twentieth birthday.

8) **Shintō** is a religion that emphasizes spiritual and physical cleanliness. When one enters the grounds of a Shintō shrine, one must clean their hands and mouth at the **chōzuya** (also called a **temizuya**), a pavilion near the main gate provided for such an occasion, before going into the worshipping hall to pay their respects to the Kami. Coinciding with this is the fact that blood is seen in Shintō as an impure element; this is the reason that **Akae Ayako** was forbidden to perform her duties at the Ōgusa-jinja when she was undergoing menstruation. This particular tradition was mocked in _Yatsura_ when it came to the character of **Sakura** (in _TSY_, I give her the full name **Sakurambō Sakura**). There, she served as a miko at a shrine…but also served as a **_school nurse_** at Tomobiki High School!


	10. The Avalonians Make New Friends

Tōkyō, a suburban section of Roppongi in Minato Ward, an hour after lunch…

"…Oyabun of the Kantō Sagara-kai Hōjō Akira-sama and the Ashi'cha of the Roppongi no Avalonjin Takao Minori-sama shall conduct the _sakazukigoto_ to swear an oath of brotherhood and sisterhood as equals. Please proceed, Hōjō-sama, Takao-sama."

With that announcement from Murata Ichijō, the ritual cups of sake were taken up by the handsome raven-haired man in the black formal man's kimono with hakama trousers bearing the _mondokoro_ of the most powerful Yakuza clan in Kantō and the exceptionally beautiful brown-haired woman in the lovely dark blue furisode kimono depicting animals from her true genetic home world many thousands of light-years away. Both sipped the sake, then placed the cups down on the table between them before bowing low to each other. Seated in a row behind the leader of the Sagara-kai and the elder mother of the Avalonians of Roppongi were small delegations of both groups. Once they straightened themselves, the two leaders then passed the cups to their lieutenants so they could be properly handed over to the other person so that both would drink from the other person's sake to show their full willingness to share the other person's food, drink and other resources in times of trouble.

While the Yakuza knew that the Avalonians they had unknowingly associated with for the last ten years — the Roppongi observation station set up by the Niphentaxians to keep a close eye on events in one of the more popular parts of Japan's largest city had been a relatively new post — would not support _**everything**_ the former group did, they knew the bioroids had come to see something incredibly special about their current leader and wanted to support him in his overall goals. Which was understandable. The unbelievable story of Hōjō Akira's surviving the genocide of Rwanda — his father had been an infectious disease specialist working for Médecins Sans Frontières when he and his wife were killed by rampaging Tutsi militiamen — in the spring of 1994 had begun to circulate when a kobun discovered a picture of the boy who would eventually become his top boss in a Ugandan refugee camp and put two and two together. While Akira hadn't confirmed it when he heard about the rumours — his subordinates clearly didn't want to ask him directly about what had to have been a very painful time in his life — that story had begun to fill the ranks of the Sagara-kai with unbelievable confidence in their oyabun.

That would help them win the battles they would all soon face as their organization moved to challenge the largest Yakuza family of all, the Kōbe Sannō-kai based in the great port city in Kansai, to remove all outside influence on their operations.

But now that the existence of the Space Angels had been revealed…

"Peace, logic and harmony to you all," Akira said as he toasted the woman before him.

Takao Minori smiled as she returned that toast. "May you find the sanctuary you have sought since the day you fled Kigali with your friend," she declared in return, which sent ripples of shock through the ranks of the other Yakuza at this public confirmation of the rumours surrounding their boss. She then glanced at Akira's former elder brother in the Hokushō-kai, Tokai Takaya, who had a look of calm satisfaction on his scarred face when it came to the man who had started out as one of his subordinates and was now his leader. "A sanctuary we will all build together as brothers and sisters."

They allowed the cups to clink as the others in the room whooped with delight. Once the ceremonial sake was drunk, everyone then relaxed. Once Murata declared the bond was formed, people then got up from kneeling seiza on the tatami mats in the primary meeting room of the mansion owned by the Sagara-kai and moved to pair off in groups as soft music began to play in the background. With that, the young leader of the Kantō underworld and the elder mother of the Avalonians of Roppongi moved to head out onto the porch overlooking the busy entertainment district near the Imperial Palace; the headquarters compound of the Sagara-kai was in the Roppongi Hills overlooking that intersection. "You were able to get all your proper internal documents from the Ministry of Justice?" he asked.

"Hai," Minori breathed out. "Delivered this morning by courier from Tomobiki."

Akira snorted as his chief lieutenant Tashiro Reiji came up with flutes of spring water for them. That particular section of Metro Tōkyō had been a practical "no go" zone to the Yakuza since shortly after the Tag Race. Now that the Urusians had been chased back to their home planet and would soon be made to agree to remain outside the solar system — Asami Chiaki passed on that titbit to his old friend the previous night — for a long time to come on threat of planet-wide destruction at the hands of the one race they were mortally terrified of, new business opportunities beckoned. Not to mention a possible direct alliance with the Moroboshi Clan of Mutsu now that it had a new matriarch in the person of Moroboshi Hiromi. Given what he had been advised about that family and their TRUE place in the real scheme of things by the long-retired oyabun of the Sugamo-kai and now effective senior statesman of the Yakuza, Ichijima Yōsuke, there was a strong possibility that his and Chiaki's dream of a "sanctuary" for all those who wanted to break free of the drudgery of modern Japanese life and make something for themselves would really go places in the near future. Especially given what the Avalonians were now envisioning if what Minori — who normally worked as a miko in nearby Hie-jinja — had told him on Thursday was true; that meeting had been a prequel to the ceremony that now bound his Yakuza clan and her extended family of Avalonians together.

"Will your mother be alright?" he then asked.

"Hai," she affirmed. Minori's genetic template/mother Takao Ameko — Akira hadn't learned her true name — had been a closet supporter of the Arch-Heretic himself. Of course, keeping silent about such "heresy" was understandable given the insane devotion leaders back on Phentax Two expressed about ensuring the masses walked the "party line." When the Noukiite Marine platoon sent to deal with her — they were now camped out in Aoyama Park close to the famous cemetery of the same name; they would soon be withdrawn from Earth and allowed to finally go home — came down Wednesday night, they found Ameko peacefully smoking a pipe at the entrance to her small home with cups of sencha spiced with red chilli pepper powder prepared by her daughter. Her statement when the lieutenant in charge of that platoon came up to her made the headlines in local papers and was still the talk of Roppongi: "_It's about time you fine fellows finally got here!_"

"She'll still face trial at Tengsei, but it's a formality," the shrine miko added. "Once she's declared innocent by the magistrates at Star Chamber, she'll be allowed to resettle on any of the worlds of the Outmarches under their religious refugee laws. Okā-san's not an idiot, Akira-san. She knows that there'll be a lynch-mob waiting for her back home if word ever got out — and it will — that she supported Ganzo-ojiisan."

He nodded. "And John Brown succeeded this time," he breathed out.

"Has Chiaki-san given you any idea about when the final vote on the Immigration Bill will be?"

"No, we haven't talked since last night," he answered. "No doubt, he and his friends in the Diet are busy convincing all the backbenchers in the House of Representatives to support it. I'm sure the Nineties Association will go for it as well. It's only logical."

She smirked. The gift of Avalonian technology was something NO sane person on Earth would pass up even if it seemed magical to those who had already seen samples of it like the dataPADD in action. Of course, it certainly helped matters here in Japan that one of the fifty great starships that had been built by Ki Tsukihana and Hakaru Ayami over the last year in that old Sagussan dockyard orbiting Den'sha Two had been given the most famous ship name in the history of the Home Islands: _Yamato_. While all the final decisions that would have to go into how such a vessel would be manned and who would ultimately control that ship would probably not be made for a month at the very least, it was already catching the interest of many in the Home Islands, even those who gladly supported Article Nine of the Constitution that loudly forbade the commissioning of what was clearly a _**space battleship**_ into the Japanese Self-Defence Forces.

While the inaugural meeting of a proposed Council of Elder Mothers formed from the various _ashi'cha_ of those Avalonians who had been on Earth before the Liberation had still to be organized — some national governments were dragging their feet about how they would officially welcome the alien bioroids living amongst them; if decisions weren't made soon, those communities would gladly vacate those countries without hesitation — Minori was determined to learn all she could about what the new matriarch of the Moroboshi Clan planned when it came to those ships and how they would be used. She would share everything she learned from that meeting and everything else her sisters passed onto her with Akira, of course. Despite his being a Yakuza with years of experience on the streets under his belt, the doctor's son who survived the massacre of thousands in Rwanda in 1994 was a man with a breadth of vision that went far beyond what might be expected of a member of the Japanese underworld. His personal quest for "Sanctuary" — a place that would allow all those who wanted to truly LIVE and make the best lives for themselves and their posterity without any restrictions getting in the way — had vaulted the man into becoming one of the most powerful gang lords in Japan while still in his late _**twenties**_! His vision — which was also the vision of Akira's brother-in-all-but-name Asami Chiaki, seeing him become the dietman for this part of Tōkyō not six years after he graduated from Tōdai! — was broad enough to accept help from others who wanted to also seek out that sanctuary and make new lives for themselves…which would eventually take many of them to another PLANET if what Otako Meinyak and her current advisory council had in mind played out in the near future!

"Hōjō-san!"

Both turned…and then Akira laughed as a pretty girl with long black hair in a French braid tied at the crown of her head and sparkling brown eyes came up to him, opening his arms to accept her embrace. Sakura Yūka was now a sophomore attending Gakushūin Women's College in nearby Shinjuku. She was Terran-born, having undergone a "body-swap" five years ago when she had fallen sick with bird flu and — thanks to her being best friends with one of Minori's sisters, Nomura Eiko — was given a whole new life. Of course, when she had reported this event to her superiors back on Phentax Two, Minori's mother claimed the "new" Yūka was just a memory-replica of the girl…which had won her praise for her swiftness in getting a deep undercover observer right into the family of Yūka's father Shūichi, then the representative for Tōkyō District One in the Diet. Of course, Yūka had been honour-bound by _giri_ to pay back her new sisters — she and Eiko were now _marei'cha_ — for saving her life and support her new "mistress" in her observation mission on Earth…which really hadn't altered the life of the dietman's daughter very much given how Takao Ameko didn't see any of her charges as anything else but human. "Hey, Yūka!" he said before they kissed. "How are your classes?"

"Trying," she admitted. "But I think I'll be able to form my own 'political studies group' there by the time I graduate." And with that, she winked.

Both Akira and Minori laughed at that oblique joke towards what the former's friend had been doing at Tōdai after his graduation: Running a political studies group whose members at the time served these days as part of his office staff…which had been a _martial arts club_ in all but name! "Well, you'll succeed," he noted. "I'm sure Chiaki will gladly give you all the tips you need to get it off the ground."

Yūka beamed. "Dōmo!" She then slipped her arm around his as Minori moved off to meet with Akira's under-bosses back inside the meeting hall. "By the way, how are things between you and Kyōko-san?" she quietly asked as she gave him a concerned look.

Akira mock-winced. "Itte! You really hit below the belt, Yūka-chan!"

Both of them laughed. "Well, given how much she loves you…!" she noted.

He sighed. "She's a police superintendent, Yūka. I'm a Yakuza oyabun. That's not compatible."

"So Eiko-vayae and I can take you to bed?" she coyly asked, her eyes twinkling with mirth.

He laughed. Back during that small campaign three yeas ago to get Yūka's father to finally resign from his seat and clear the way for Chiaki to take his place in the 2009 elections, Akira had attended swimming lessons with the then-high school senior. Yūka had acted like any starstruck teenager would when it came to a handsome, older man; she had flirted with him and did other cute things for him like bake cookies. Of course, on learning Thursday morning that Yūka had known all along what the future oyabun of the Sagara-kai had planned thanks to her telepathy, Akira had been stunned by how good an actress she was. As the dietman's daughter — who had accompanied her group's _ashi'cha_ to that first meeting with Akira that day as a way of keeping the peace between the Sagara-kai and the Roppongi Avalonians in the wake of Wednesday evening's revelations — would later explain, she had long known of her father's infidelity when it came to her mother Chiyo and had been totally sickened by it. "_I just became a legal adult, Hōjō-san_," Yūka said when he had asked her about how she had really felt when it came to his literally helping ruin her father's life. "_That means I can vote. Why should I vote for some idiot who — after marrying a wonderful woman who supported him through thick and thin for_ YEARS_! — can't keep it in his pants and needs to chase down young women to see if he's still 'manly?!' At least your friend Asami-san is_ SINGLE_, so it's okay for him to sleep with people like that hot American trade representative he met before New Year's!_"

"Well, I…" He then sighed. "You're serious?"

"Not now. You still haven't conquered all of Japan yet." As Akira grinned in delight at her show of support for his goals, Yūka then sobered. "But I do worry about you, Onii-chan. You're taking on a pretty nasty bunch in Kōbe; my sisters down there all know about the Sannō-kai." A disgusted snort escaped her. "We've even seen them here in town. Some are okay, but the rest think they're the personal warriors of the Shōgun!" She shook her head.

"It won't be too bad. If there are smart people down there advising Ogata-san, they'll see what advantage your sisters will give them, then grasp it. If they don't…" He then smirked at her. "Well, we can repeat this ceremony…"

"Hōjō-sama?"

Both turned as Reiji came up to join them. "What is it?" Akira asked.

"We just got a call," the other man reported. "From _**Sōsō Mōtoku**_."

Yūka gasped as Akira's eyebrow arched. "I see…"

* * *

Hinata, in a cave under the Ōgusu-jinja east of the Hinata-sō, that moment…

Urashima Keitarō was trying NOT to scream his head off.

It was hard though.

Very hard.

And it would have been understandable if he did give full vent to his emotions, the elderly kannushi in charge of this small shrine on the western slopes of Ōgusu-yama mused as he watched the young manager of the Hinata-sō stare in disbelief at the two nude women in their storage chambers. This cave under the shrine grounds had just been discovered by two of the Hinata Avalonians, Tōdō Mika and Hironaka Norika. Both girls — when they didn't attend high school; Mika and Norika were seniors at the Mikasa Girls School in Yokosuka — volunteered as miko at Ōgusu-jinja, assisting their elder sister Akae Ayako and the other shrine maidens in various ceremonies. Both had been cleaning out one of the storerooms at the side of the shrine grounds when they discovered a hidden trap door leading into a cave. Going down into it to ensure it was safe, they made their way into this chamber, soon discovering what lay within.

Given what was here…

"They are Steel Angels."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"S-s-Steel Angels, N-n-Negako-sensei…?"

That was a still-weeping Maehara Shinobu, who hadn't left her beloved sempai's side since they had come here from the new Hinata Creek Apartments. At the time Mika and Norika had made their shocking discovery under the shrine grounds, Shinobu had been visiting Ōgusu-jinja with her girlfriend Kashiwamura Moe to pray to the Kami of Ōgusu-yama to bless their relationship before Moe would get her sisters' help in preparing a new Avalonian body for Shinobu so they could become bond-mates as physical equals. Sensing their sisters' shock, Moe and Ayako raced off after them, using a tricorder and their empathy to track down where Mika and Norika were. Shinobu had gone with them — which had been utterly reckless in the eyes of the kannushi, but understandable given the adventures the poor girl had endured at the hands of her co-tenants at the Hinata-sō over the last year — into the cave…only to discover that one of the two just-revealed Steel Angels in this hidden storage space had been an older physical replica of HERSELF!

That had sent the poor girl fleeing back to the Hinata-sō in tears.

Especially given what the other combat gynoid from decades before now looked like.

"Yes, Shinobu, your sister and Kaolla's sister are both Steel Angels. Of the same type of advanced model that had been designed in the early 1930s before all production work was finally stopped as the girls then active allowed both Deannette Raeburn and I to deactivate them and place them in storage," Moroboshi Negako stated as she gently probed the various ki meridians of the sleeping gynoid before her.

That made Shinobu gape. "My SISTER?!"

Ayako — who had been doing a telepathic scan of the adult version of Kaolla Su now standing beside Shinobu's replica; this particular version of the Molmolite princess looked no different than those gynoids Keitarō's fiancée had dealt with on Thursday afternoon — sighed. "Hai, Shinobu-chan. Both of them were programmed with detailed copies of your memories and Kaolla-chan's memories. No doubt, given what Negako-sama just reported concerning the extent of Kaolla-chan's metahuman abilities, she used her powers to finish moulding their bodies into what they look like now at the same time she found a way to replicate her memories and obtain a copy of your memories to give them their own living souls. I would say this was done around the turn of the New Year."

"WHY, Ayako?!" Moe — who was also comforting her girlfriend — demanded. "What would possess that _de'ne_ to _**invade**_ Shinobu-vayae's privacy like that?!"

"Because she was afraid that the man she loved would never know true love."

People blinked. "Me, you mean," Keitarō stated.

Ayako nodded. "Hai, Keitarō-kun. At the time this happened, the 'adult' side of Kaolla-chan was coming to realize that you were getting nowhere in your pursuit of Naru-san. You really didn't care at all for either Mitsune-san or Motoko-san…and Kaolla-chan and Shinobu-chan were just too young for you, never mind the whole issue of Kaolla-chan being informally engaged to her cousin." She then sighed. "Fearing that if she was taken back to Molmol, there would be no one left behind to truly love and care for you, Keitarō-kun, she decided that she would mould these two as adult versions of herself and the one person who loves you unconditionally." She indicated the wet-faced girl in Keitarō's arms.

As Shinobu blushed on hearing that public acknowledgement of her deepest feelings for the landlord of the Hinata-sō, others took a moment to consider that. "What happens now, Negako-san?" Keitarō then asked. "I know how Steel Angels are to be fully activated. You need a person who is very powerful either spiritually or magically to bestow a kiss on one of them to activate their Angel Hearts and secure the loyalty locks to make them serve their 'goshujin-sama.'" The others in the room were quick to sense the disgust in his voice on saying that particular title. "After all we just went through with Ayako-chan and the others, I don't want to have these two enslaved to me!"

"They will not be enslaved to you, Keitarō," Negako calmly stated.

People gaped. "How do you know that, Negako-sama?!" the kannushi, Moriyasu Jin, demanded.

"I am very familiar with the Steel Angels, Jin. I befriended many of them in the 1920s and 1930s; one of them — Shichinohe Kaga — could be seen as my intimate lover," the ninjutsu grandmaster calmly stated. As people gaped in shock at her frank admission, she added, "The adult side of Kaolla clearly understands Keitarō far more than her less mature side does. She knows that he would not desire to have a woman enslaved to him; the concept, as he just demonstrated, utterly revolts him to the core of his very being. So she found a way to override the need for a loyalty lock in Makiko and Tamara. Yes, Keitarō — and only Keitarō — can activate them with a kiss. But both of them will be quite independent in comparison to all their older sisters."

Shinobu blinked. "She's named after my grandmother?!"

"Indeed your sister is, Shinobu," Negako said with a light smile. "It appears that Kaolla also has a limited empathic potential. Understandable; anyone under the profound influence of any form of mesonium develops such abilities. When she first met you, she sensed that you missed your grandmother very much and still — despite Makiko having passed away sometime before — hoped deep down that she might have been able to take you out of your family home when your parents moved to separate and you felt you could not live with either of them anymore. Hence, when she programmed your replica, she gave her the name 'Maehara Makiko' in your grandmother's honour. Tamara here is named after Kaolla's late mother, whom she misses very much."

Hearing that, Shinobu sniffed. "She still should have asked…"

"Kaolla ultimately suffers from ebony mesonium radiation poisoning, Shinobu," Negako calmly cut her off. "Atop that, she was raised in a society whose members all suffer from the very same affliction. Even if she gained a considerable level of ruby mesonium in her blood to better empower herself after her parents died, she cannot escape the influence of the ebony mesonium whose effects have bombarded her since birth. Because of that situation, she is not fully responsible for any of her actions."

The younger woman took that in before she slowly nodded. She then gazed on the unmoving form of her new "sister" in her storage chamber. As she had seen in pictures of other Steel Angels as they appeared before they were fully activated that the middle school sophomore had seen in history books, Maehara Makiko's body was covered in gently-sculptured runes that were designed to better enhance her many powers; those runes would disappear when she was activated, only appearing when she needed their mystical power to help her. She was as shapely as any of the older Hinata Avalonians, with perfectly round breasts and well-shaped hips; if she was organic, she would have to fight the boys — and girls who might be so inclined — back with a stick even if she was conservatively dressed. Gazing on her face, Shinobu felt a touch of envy on noting how peaceful Makiko looked now even if her body didn't move at all; it might have made her think this was a corpse if she didn't know better.

Realizing Makiko wasn't at fault for being shaped or programmed the way she was, she sighed before gazing at Keitarō. "Sempai, I know…please…?"

She then blinked on feeling Dō Karumi's hands fall on her shoulders as a wave of reassurance flooded her. Noting that, Keitarō then took a deep breath before he squared his shoulders. "Would you excuse me for a moment, Negako-san?"

The ninjutsu grandmaster nodded as she stepped clear…

* * *

Ōgusu-jinja, an hour later…

"Oh! This is good! Arigatō, Ayako-san."

Ayako smiled as she pulled back from placing the cup of Ceylon tea in front of Tamara Su. "You're quite welcome, Tamara-san," she said with an amused smile.

The just-activated Molmolite-form Steel Angel — now dressed in a miko's kimono and hakama, as was her sister — tried not to blush on sensing the frank look being sent her way by the dark-haired Terran-form Avalonian shrine maiden. She then blinked as she felt a hyperspace link connect into her mind from her sister. «She wants to be your lover, Ta-chan,» Maehara Makiko gently teased.

«Well, I can't fault her very good taste, Ma-chan,» Tamara sent back. «Still…»

«Hai. We will still be Sempai's lovers once we convince his fiancée of the logic of the situation. And prove ourselves by making sure that Naru-sempai and Motoko-sempai can't get anywhere close to him when they come back down to Earth.» Shinobu's sister then smiled as she felt her template embrace her from one side before she sipped the sencha that had been prepared for her. «Oh, make sure you get that sword that's on the grounds when you can.»

«Already programmed into my central processors,» Tamara stated as she gave her sister a knowing look. «Let's see how Motoko-chan likes facing the same being that nearly wiped all her ancestors out four centuries ago the next time she tries to 'punish' Onii-chan for something that really wasn't his fault. Given how shy he is…»

«Shy he _was_,» Makiko amended. «Given the soul-bond with his fiancée…»

The other woman nodded. Everyone was now relaxing in the shrine's haiden, the place where worshippers gathered to pay their respects to the various kami who were enshrined in the honden to their east, enclosed protectively by the wooden tamagaki fence that kept all save the kannushi and the miko from intruding in a place where they didn't belong. Ayako, Mika and Norika were busy doing snack duty, travelling to and from the kitchenette in the shrine's administrative office to the southwest of the haiden. Given the presence of one living kami — as Moriyasu Jin viewed her — in the person of Moroboshi Negako, having this impromptu party inside the worshipping hall of the Ōgusu-jinja wouldn't cause any real harm in the long term. Besides, people needed a chance to calm down and get their emotions under control after discovering the existence of Tamara and Makiko in the cave under the shrine grounds, so why not do it here?

"So that was also the place where those fembots I wrecked came from, right?"

"Hai," Tamara stated as she gazed with an apologetic look at Karumi. "Kaolla created those girls — atop their also being built to also be Onii-chan's lovers — as a way of helping her remember what she did when she underwent the Crimson Moon transformation into adult form; she always forgets what she does when she reverts back to being a teenager again. But knowing that Naru and Motoko would definitely NOT approve of Onii-chan having 'dutch wives' like that, she placed them in a part of the tunnel network under the Hinata-sō that she knew Motoko didn't know about. Shortly after that, she made the discovery of our incomplete bodies, then moved the gynoids in there."

"Which would have put them all out of Nuna-ya's sensing range," Keitarō stated as he warmly grasped Karumi's hand. "She could only sense things if they were on the Hinata-sō grounds themselves; that's how much Master Hosan's magic restricted her. And since Kaolla-chan always forgets what she does when she turns into an adult, Nuna-ya didn't know what was going on." He sighed. "Damn…!"

"We still can't let her come back here alone," Karumi warned. "That's capitulating to those idiots back in Molmol. We've got the advantage. We have to press it."

He nodded. "Agreed."

"So Kaolla-chan suffered from ebony meson radiation poisoning?" Makiko asked.

"She did," Negako affirmed. "There is a confirmed deposit of that material in the Kasi Mountains northeast of Molmol City. While I am unsure if actual crystals of that material have made their way to the surface, their influence on the natives of that island is now glaringly obvious. Not even the influence of the ruby mesonium — no doubt from a vein of that material in the Windy Desert to the southwest of Molmol City — in Kaolla's blood was enough to fight off the influence of the ebony mesonium radiation she had been subjected to since initial conception inside the womb of Tamara's namesake."

"So how can this poor child be helped, Negako-sama?" Jin asked.

"She will have to ultimately become an Avalonian."

People blinked. "What would that do to her?" Keitarō asked.

"Atop granting her the standard Avalonian abilities, it will help in the final repairs to her soul that Tāng Wéi — she is one of the Avalonians of Jǐnán in China and the current assistant to the ambassador of the People's Republic to the International Conference of Magical Communities, Gāo Xiùmǐn — arranged to have happen with the assistance of her friend Huáng Shèngyī from Luòyáng, who is one of the Avalonians native to that city and is a certified mind-healer and a trained clinical psychologist," Negako answered. "It will also allow Kaolla full control over her metahuman abilities; the ruby mesonium in the blood of her original body will shift over to her new body when the _tre'cha_ occurs. Since there are no actual particles of ebony mesonium in her body, there is no need to fear further mental trauma unless something happens to her. As an extra precaution, she should undergo the _tre'cha_ in a location away from the Kasi Mountains."

"Here in Hinata, you mean," Karumi stated.

"A valid suggestion, Karumi. The Hinata-sō is a familiar place to Kaolla. It is a place where she feels safe and protected from the pressures of her life back in Molmol. That will aid her in the transition into her new life."

"We still can't really give in to them like that, Negako-sama."

The ninjutsu grandmaster nodded. "Understandable. After the Avalonian-Pararakelsians helped initiate a full magical shielding system over their territory, the Avalonian-I-Kiribati, the Avalonian-Marshallese, the Avalonian-Micronesians and the Avalonian-Nauruans initiated the same sort of defensive protocols protecting their sovereign territory from unwelcome intrusion. In addition, personnel of the United States Department of Magic arranged to have Wake Island — which is under the operational jurisdiction of the United States Air Force — shielded in the very same matter with assistance of the Avalonian-Guamanians and the Avalonians of the Northern Mariana Islands. With those shield systems now active, the Molmolites cannot apparate off the island; they are effectively trapped there. Their only option when it comes to any form of magical transportation is to use international portkeys to nations that have bestowed them diplomatic recognition such as the People's Republic of China. That will make the government in Molmol City feel very constrained; the process to create such portkeys to travel long distances is quite magically exhaustive. With that, they will be forced to realize that the patience of their neighbours towards their constant show of disrespect towards the territorial and personal integrity of those nations and their citizens has come to a final end. They will have no recourse but to capitulate and agree to your demands."

"Pity I can't make myself look like Kaolla as a child," Tamara then lamented. "If I could do that — since I have an Angel Heart built out of diamond and ruby meson; I'd be protected from the ebony meson in the Kasi Mountains — I can make myself slip into Kaolla's place while Miss Tirtha gets her to safety."

"Doing that will not teach your adopted countrymen…"

"**_URASHIMA! YOU BASTARD! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!_**"

Everyone jolted on hearing that bellowing voice from the direction of the torii that led onto the grounds. "Who the hell is THAT?!" Karumi demanded.

Negako looked, her eyes narrow. "I believe they are the people assigned by Lamba Lu to watch over Kaolla as she lives here in Japan. Tenna is with them."

"Kami-sama!" Jin croaked out. "If those maniacs come here…!"

"Calm yourself, Jin…"

"**_YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH…!_**"

"…Taeko is dealing with the issue now," Negako finished as wailing screams of fear and frustration echoed over the grounds of Ōgusu-jinja.

* * *

Between the torii of Ōgusu-jinja and the Higashimikka-eki tram station…

"I'm SO sorry about this, Taeko-sama…!"

"Tenna-ya!"

Tenna Kan jolted. "H-h-hai…?"

Urashima Taeko gave her an annoyed look. "You're babbling!"

The Molmolite witch blinked before she nodded…and then she jerked on hearing a voice bellow out, "_**TENNA! DO SOMETHING! MAKE THIS MONSTER PUT US DOWN!**_"

She turned to glare at Janta Jan. "Are you INSANE?!" Tenna snarled. "This is the _**Destroyer of Kyōto**_ here!" She indicated Taeko with a wave of her hand as running footsteps heralded the arrival of the platoon of Noukiite Imperial Marines who had been camped out on the grounds of the Hinata-sō, Peacemaker rifles at the ready. "Are you asking me to commit _suicide_ by trying to engage in a magical duel with _**her**_?!"

By then, the lieutenant in charge of the platoon, Eyu-K'ung Chusu-Techsuo, had moved to kneel before Taeko, giving her the proper hand-in-fist salute of his people as he bowed his head respectfully to her. "My Lady Taeko, what has happened here?" he asked.

Running footsteps echoed from behind them. "What's going on here?!" someone demanded.

Taeko turned as two policemen came up, batons in their hands. "Calm down!" she scolded as she gave them an amused look before waving Techsuo up. "And get up, Techsuo-ssi! I can't stand speaking to people's _backs_ like that!" She turned back to the just-arrived police officers, focusing on the older of the two men. "Sorry to cause a disturbance today, Tenkai-ssi, but these silly fellows here didn't like certain news they just got from their home island. They came to the conclusion that my poor brother was to blame and charged here — uncaring that this was ground sanctified by my old friend in the mountain — to upbraid him for something he simply didn't do." She indicated Tenna. "Poor Tenna-ya here tried to stop them from doing that, but they wouldn't listen to her."

Hearing that, Kana Tenkai shuddered before he glared wrathfully at the Molmolites who were now being forced to _float_ two metres off the ground thanks to Taeko's magic; he was quick to see the glow of purple energy around her right hand. "Is that a fact?" he then calmly stated. "Well, isn't it a pity that these idiots DON'T have any sort of diplomatic immunity! We can expel them back to the _**Marshall Islands**_ right away!"

"_**HOW DARE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU…?!**_" Janta screamed out…

_SNAP!_

"_**…SQUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!**_"

Everyone gaped on seeing that the leader of the Molmolite observers had just been transformed into a magpie, who was barking away as if nothing had happened to him. As the other observers whimpered on seeing such an impressive show of transfiguration — and Tenna was gaping in awe at Taeko at how easy the latter had performed such a transformation with just the snap of the fingers of her free hand…not to mention feeling considerable glee on seeing Janta Jan finally made to SHUT UP for a change; he had always tried to hit on her since they had come here to Hinata two years ago — the police officers and the Noukiites all relaxed themselves, though the latter group still had their weapons at the ready. Techsuo then sighed before he gazed on Tenkai. "Lord Constable Tenkai, permit us to remove these unworthy and disrespectful monsters from your beautiful spa village so that they will not disturb the Lady Taeko or those under her protection anymore. We can send them back to their petty island right away."

Tenkai hummed before he sensed the look Taeko was sending his way. He then nodded. "Hai, Chūi-san, if you can do that, it would be appreciated."

A deep bow responded. "As you desire, good sir."

Within ten seconds, the observers — other than Tenna — vanished in a flash of teleport beams. Taeko smiled as she relaxed herself before she turned once more to gaze on Tenkai and his partner, indicating the young witch in question. "Tenna-ya here is now one of the Avalonians of Hinata; when Negako-sŏnbaenim and I examined her earlier, we discovered that she and her countrymen all suffer from one form or another of ebony meson radiation poisoning." As both policemen winced on hearing that — they all knew their history and what the Black Dragon Society had unleashed on dozens of Japanese teenagers which resulted in their eventually being hunted down and killed by the War Hawks if they were ever caught in North America…to say anything of what Moroboshi Negako herself had to do on the night of 14-15 August 1945 — she added, "Thus, she is under my protection. Kaolla-ya herself is a metahuman powered by ruby meson, but is still under the influence of the ebony meson that affects her countrymen so. Once we get her back here under our charge, we'll put her through a body-swap as Tenna-ya just underwent."

"What's to stop those idiots from Molmol from sending more people here, Taeko-sama?" Tenkai's partner, Kamioka Sōsuke, then wondered.

"Well, I can set up lethal magical wards that will kill them should they ever set foot on any territory of Hinata City…but that might be just a bit too much," Taeko mused as Tenna winced on hearing such a dire threat. "So we'll just have to ask Kana-ya once she gets back from work to arrange to have the same type of monitoring system set up around Hinata that all of Molmol's neighbours have which keeps out any silly magical from entering their home territories. With that, we can have you good people deal with them since Techsuo-ssi and his friends will soon head back to their home planet once their Empress makes the silly Oni and their friends realize they're not wanted here anymore."

Both officers saluted her. "I'll inform the station chief about that, Taeko-sama," Tenkai stated. "Thanks for your help, Chūi-san, Tenna-san. Please excuse us."

With that, they turned to head back down to Higashimikka-eki so they could get the next tram back to the Hinata police box and report this incident to their superiors. After parting from Techseo and his friends, Taeko took a deep breath. "I wonder what's happening now with Hina's silly enforcers," she then wondered aloud…

* * *

In a warehouse in Ninomiya, that moment…

"**_YOU FUCKIN' BASTARDS!_**"

A fist slammed into the already-damaged face of Ichinosei Hikaru, hitting with such force that the tōshi calmly watching this could actually hear his skull bones crack from the blow as he — tied to a chair — was sent flying back into the side of a steel container that was set up against one wall. As the other enforcers who had been captured by the warriors of Kyoshō under Natsukimi Makoto's charge cringed on seeing the master of basics demonstrate his strength, a calming hand landed on his shoulder. "Relax, Ton," Tsukasa Torusuke stated. "These idiots are just hired help."

Makoto glared at his cousin. "What happened to Shisai is cause for WAR, Mōtoku!"

"True," the president of the student council of the Kyoshō Academy stated. "But the war is effectively over. The woman who saw to it Shisai was taken from us for forty years is now at death's very door in Belgium right now. And Shisai herself is about to marry that woman's grandson." It hadn't taken the tōshi much to get that titbit of information from their captives; a little display of a ki aura by Torusuke — not enough to unleash the dark and bloodthirsty dragon inside him of course, but still quite terrifying to the uninitiated — had them confessing everything about what had happened to Dō Karumi forty years ago at the hands of Urashima Hina. Not to mention how Karumi's engagement with Hina's grandson had thrown a massive monkey wrench into the plans the old hot springs hotel matron had for him.

Which really didn't matter in the greater scheme of things as Torusuke saw it.

Dō Karumi had graduated from Kyoshō in 1968. It was the accepted custom amongst tōshi these days that once one of their kind had graduated from high school and moved on with his/her life, they had effectively "escaped" the Fate of the Magatama and had earned the right to be left alone. Yes, ancient loyalties to friends who might not have been reborn at the same time would normally drive adult tōshi back into the wider fold of the Seven Battle Schools of Kantō, but it was not seen as an iron-clad rule. After all, look at what had happened when the Kōshi Kasshi had launched their "rebellion" and departed _en masse_ from their schools to form their motorcycle gang. Most likely — especially now that she was engaged to marry Urashima Keitarō — Karumi would just move to get on with her life as his wife and co-owner of the Hinata-sō and be happy at that.

And with her soon to become the sister-in-law of the _**Destroyer of Kyōto**_ herself…!

To say anything of the **_Black Death of the Martial Arts_** taking interest in this…!

"We'll have to keep the peace with Taeko-sama to ensure Shisai is safe."

Torusuke turned to gaze on Tsukasame Yoiko, who was currently being accompanied by the woman who had — in a violent overreaction towards being raped by several classmates the previous year — accidentally cut her legs off, Sakan Somumi (Ten'i). "Hai, you're right," he breathed out. "I don't cherish doing anything with someone as powerful as T'aeja of Chosŏn herself so close to me…to say anything of Moroboshi Negako being in the area." The room instantly chilled on his saying _**that**_ name. Even now, three centuries after the last incident where a tōshi had fallen at the hands of the host of the _Saikō Jinseijutsu_ — who wouldn't actually become her own being for a century yet! — as dispatched on the order of the Imperial Court then in Kyōto, the bowel-loosening terror many of the reborn warriors of the Three Kingdoms of China felt for Earth's first true artificial intelligence was burned right into their very bones. "Still, it does indicate one small thing," he then added.

"What's that, Mōtoku?" Kuruwa Yoisuke asked.

"The Moroboshi siblings will be probably staying at the Hinata-sō until things with the Avalonians settle down and Otako-daitōryō gets her government organized. Or at least visiting that place frequently to spend time in the hot springs there to spend some time away from the bioroid factory," the leader of Kyoshō stated. "Understandable given what Negako-sama revealled to the media yesterday."

"So why don't you tell the people in Tomobiki where that idiot is?"

Eyes locked on San Tokutarō as several of the tōshi found themselves quietly admiring the young Zainichi Korean's guts in speaking out like that after seeing his own group leader nearly killed by Makoto. "Why do you propose that?" Torusuke wondered.

A snort answered him. "You'd actually WANT to let that skirt-chasing fool running loose down here?!" Tokutarō demanded. "Especially with someone like Ten'i-san there?!"

The tōshi all stared in shock at him before Makoto shook his head. "Mōtoku, did you see the same damned news show on NHK I did?!" the master of basics then demanded. "Because I sure as hell heard Negako-sama specially say that Ataru killed off…!"

"Three thousand, five hundred and seventeen," Yoiko supplied.

A nod. "Right! Three thousand, five hundred and seventeen people that had the ill-luck to get on the bad side of the _last host_ of the fuckin' _**Black Death**_ herself!" Makoto walked over to glare intently into Tokutarō's wide eyes. "You want to know what being the host of someone like Negako-sama does to somebody, pal?! It makes them fuckin' _invincible_! The only person who'd stand a chance against her is none other than _**Major Raeburn**_ herself…and I'll lay pretty strong bets that when she comes back to Earth and finds out her friend's finally got her own body after 202 years, she won't do a damned thing about it!" He tapped the former Yakuza kobun on the forehead. "Take the soulsword. It's a sword made out of fuckin' _**anti-ki**_! Get touched by the tip or the edge, you're dead before your head hits the ground!" A gentle slap to the cheek. "Get hit by the flat of the blade, your brains are fried natto and you're in a coma for the rest of your life!" He then pointed to Tokutarō's heart. "Then there's the Heart-Blast Touch. Hit the right shiatsu point and thirty seconds later, _KA-POW_!" As the captive former kobun winced, the master of basics grinned. "Your heart _**blows up**_ in your fuckin' chest! That's a pretty painful way of dying, believe it or not!" He then cackled. "'Sides, after rescuing the Space Angels, why the hell would Ataru want to satisfy himself with just a NORMAL Earth girl?! Have you seen pictures of some of those Avalonians?! Whoo!"

The other tōshi laughed…just as the door into the warehouse opened. "Sōsō-sama, Hōjō-san just arrived," one of the tōshi keeping watch outside reported.

All the conscious kobun winced on hearing _that_ name. "Send him in," Torusuke ordered.

"Hai."

A moment later, a handsome man in his late twenties walked in, dressed now in his normal white business suit with a matching white overcoat draped over his shoulders. Accompanying him were several people…which, much to the surprise of all the tōshi from Kyoshō, included two women in dark business suits with slacks, though they all had the multi-coloured shirts under their jackets that matched that of Hōjō Akira's male companions. They also possessed the insignia of the Kantō Sagara-kai on their jacket collars, which really surprised the tōshi. Seeing women wearing the insignia of a Yakuza clan was a very rare thing; that normally happened when female relatives of the oyabun or the senior under-bosses were forced to take over the clan or parts of the clan before a new man could be promoted into place.

Deep down, Torusuke was impressed. Yoiko had kept him fully appraised of the massive shakeup in the local underworld that followed in the wake of Hōjō Akira eliminating his predecessor as head of the Sagara-kai two years ago, then moving to destroy or subvert the two main rival clans in Kantō within a year. The survivor of Rwanda — Torusuke knew of THAT little tale — hadn't done much beyond that save for his giving under-the-table support to his very good friend Asami Chiaki to allow him to become a member of the House of Representatives for Tōkyō District One in last summer's general elections…but there were rumours racing about these days that Akira was about to face off against the most powerful Yakuza syndicate currently active in the country, the Kōbe Sannō-kai.

Given what Akira had lived through in his childhood, the leader of Kyoshō gave him excellent odds in either toppling the Sannō-kai or at least winning an alliance with them as equals while he — through his former elder brother, Tokai Takaya, who had come today as Akira's chief escort — moved to formalize relationships with the Yakuza in Kyūshū.

Akira came up, bowing respectfully to his host. "Sōsō-sama."

A respectful bow was given back, equal to equal. "Hōjō-dono. We apologize for intruding on your business today, but we found these five gentlemen about to make an attack on a lost sister of ours now living in the city of Hinata down the coast from here."

"Holy damn…!"

Eyes locked on Tokai, who had his normal devil-may-care smirk on his face. Seeing that, all the tōshi grinned as Akira tried not to sigh. "Tokai-san…"

"Chill, Boss," Tokai said before he walked over to stare intently at San Tokutarō. "It's been a long time, San. What the hell are you doin' pissing off a _**tōshi**_ of all people? Didn't the idiots in the Dōmon-kai warn you ahead of time about that?!"

"It's not our fault that the bitch wouldn't back away from marrying our new boss-lady's elder brother forty years ago and stealing the family home from her!" Tokutarō snarled back.

Tokai blinked. "Forty years ago…?"

"Turns out that Shisai — that's her battle name, Tōgai Shisai; she graduated in '68 — was trapped in the tunnels under the Hinata-sō behind blood ki wards in hopes of killing her," Makoto explained. "That was done by Urashima Hina. That ended up breaking the heart of Hina's brother Kyōsuke — he was Shisai's boyfriend at the time — and seeing him die shortly afterwards. Shisai survived somehow — we don't know all the details — then got rescued on Thursday by old lady Hina's grandson Keitarō and the Space Angels in Hinata." He smirked. "We know who _**he**_ is, don't we?"

Laughter filled the room from both the tōshi and the visiting Yakuza. "Explain something to me, Kakōton-dono," Akira then asked. "What are 'blood ki wards?'"

"They're ki fields used to protect or seal away something, powered by a person's very blood," the master of basics answered. "Creating them takes a special type of knowledge that's only possessed by one martial arts school in Japan: The Moroboshi-Hana Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū. That's the home school of the Black Death of the Martial Arts, Moroboshi Negako-sama herself. To you guys, she's Imperial Special Agent #49."

"Was the Destroyer of Kyōto involved in this as well?" Akira asked.

"Who?!" a confused Tokai demanded.

"She was, Hōjō-dono," Yoiko answered. "To answer your question, Tokai-dono, the Destroyer of Kyōto is a Korean version of a tsukumogami who was born five centuries ago in a fireplace poker an ancestor of Urashima-sempai's stole from a house near Sŏul and brought back with him to Japan during the Bunroku War. He was a minor samurai, a retainer to Toyotomi Hideyoshi himself. He switched allegiances to Tokugawa Ieyasu after Toyotomi died, then fought at his side at Sekigahara. He lost his sword there…"

"Should'a fuckin' committed seppuku for losing his damned _sword_!" Tokai snorted as he lit up a cigarette.

She nodded. "Agreed…especially given what happened next. The fireplace poker with the spirit of the tokkaebi — that's what they call tsukumogami in Korea — inside it was made of the same type of good steel that can be hammered into a katana. He had the poker reforged as a katana in the Muramasa style." As the visitors winced on hearing that, Yoiko smirked. "T'aeja — that's her name — didn't care for that. When she got the chance, she possessed the samurai, and then 'did a Tokai' on Kyōto in 1603. I think you've heard the story of what happened in the Great Fire that year."

Tokai winced…though part of him was actually quite flattered that the Kyoshō Academy's number two girl knew of him personally and knew of his brash, overtly destructive, in-your-face style of doing things when it came to pressing his and his clan's goals. They didn't call him "Crazy Tokai" for nothing after all! "Damn…I'd like to meet this lady!"

"All you have to do is visit the Hinata-sō, dude," Makoto said. "She's now one of the Space Angels. Same situation as Negako-sama herself, in fact."

"Not to mention that she's about to become the future landlady of the Hinata-sō."

Eyes locked on one of the two women who had come with Akira. A pretty brunette with dark green eyes, she now had a rectangular piece of slate crystal in hand as she tapped on its upper surface with her fingers to draw up a holographic image of what looked like a woman a little older than any of the tōshi present today, dressed in traditional clothing. As the tōshi all gaped in shock on realizing that she — and most likely the other girl who had come with the Yakuza today — was an Avalonian, Akira smiled as he pulled up a cigarette and moved to light it…before he nodded his thanks as Torusuke used a little of his ki to get it going. "What can you tell us, Reiko-san?" he asked.

Toshiba Reiko smiled. "Urashima Taeko, alias T'aeja of Chosŏn, alias the Destroyer of Kyōto. Non-physical sentient manifestation of the Te'a — what you would all call 'kami' here in Japan — sub-type 'tokkaebi.' Believed to have become fully sentient circa 1500 C.E. within a fireplace poker at an unidentified residence on the slopes of Namhan-san. Was kidnapped by Urashima Tadaoki in 1592, taken to Japan with him as war booty during the Imjin War; the Bunroku War as it's known here. Her physical body was reforged into a Muramasa-style katana — later known as the 'Yōkatana Hinata' — at the request of her captor when he lost his katana during the Battle of Sekigahara. She possessed him in an attempt to return home to Korea, initiating the event known today as the 'Great Fire of 1603.' Killed approximately 100,000 people until the body she was using was killed by Thoughtmaster-prime Hosan Hirosuke. She was then enslaved with magical spells which channelled her power for the use of any acknowledged member of the Shinmei-ryū — they suffered nearly ninety-five percent fatalities during the Great Fire trying to put T'aeja-sama down — and entrusted to Tadaoki's widow and her family for safekeeping when not in use. Eventually wound up in the Hinata-sō in the city of the same name in Kanagawa Prefecture. Befriended Urashima Keitarō in 1995; when he learned her story, he adopted her as his imaginary elder sister. She reciprocated his feelings. On Thursday, she was convinced to become a Terran-form Avalonian to free herself of what Thoughtmaster-prime Hosan forced on her all those years ago. Her body was cloned from Keitarō-san's DNA. She is now seen as the effective manager and landlady of the Hinata-sō; such will be legalized on Monday morning at the Kanagawa District Court when Keitarō-san submits a request to become the legal owner of the property so that he can ensure it remains within his family due to property tax issues, not to mention his grandmother's attempted murder of his current bond-mate and fiancée, Dō Karumi, alias Tōgai Shisai. Karumi-san herself is now also an Avalonian." As the tōshi all gaped, Reiko breathed out, "Wow! A cross-gender bonding?! That's…oh! Keitarō-san got a blood transfusion from Taeko-sama in return; he's one of us by blood-adoption as Ataru-kun became when he was on Okusei." She then deactivated the dataPADD.

"A _**soul-bond**_?!" Yoisuke exclaimed before he whooped. "Way to go, Shisai!"

The other tōshi all bellowed their envy and delight at their once-lost sister's success when it came to landing a wonderful spouse — like a lot of people across the southern part of the Kantō region, all of Kyoshō respected Urashima Keitarō very much because of his tolerance of the behaviour the current tenants at the Hinata-sō demonstrated to him that saw him often flung for _kilometres_ through the air…and surviving such journeys without much of a scratch! — in something as intimate as _**that**_! As the Yakuza all clapped their hands in a show of respect for their hosts' joy on learning the true fate of their lost schoolmate, Akira then gazed on the captured enforcers. "So why are they here now?" he wondered.

"We caught 'em moving to spy on Shisai and Taeko-sama," Makoto answered. "When we saw the irezumi on their backs, we thought they were affiliated with you guys. Since we've no time to get into a rumble with you now moving to take on Kōbe…"

"They ain't part of us."

Eyes locked on Tokai. "So who did they belong to?" Yoisuke asked.

"Like I said before when I recognized San here. They're all ex-Dōmon," Tokai answered before he gazed on Tokutarō. "What happened to you guys anyway?"

The young Zainichi Korean breathed out. "Hina-sama took us in after the Dōmon-kai was totally wrecked by your boss. We've been keeping an eye on the Hinata-sō — and Keitarō-sama — ever since that time. Hina-sama wants to see if he can both run the Hinata-sō AND get into Tōdai while winning the love of his promise girl, Naru-sama."

"Narusegawa Naru, you mean," Torusuke moved to confirm.

A tired nod answered him. "Hai."

Tokai hummed. "Isn't she one of the bitches that keeps punching…?!"

"**_HEY!_**"

Everyone jolted on hearing Tokutarō glare at Tokai. "Oi, man! Cool off!" one of the other former Dōmon kobun hissed out. "You realize who you're talking back to?!"

"Relax," Tokai declared with a smirk. "I've always liked San's balls! So what's the whole damned thing about Narusegawa and that kendō chick that lives at that place anyway?! How come they're always pickin' on that poor guy all the time?!"

Tokutarō blinked as he considered what to say, then smirked to himself. If he could unleash Crazy Tokai on Dō Karumi and get the tōshi bitch killed off, that would get rid of one major problem standing in the way of Keitarō fulfilling his promise to marry Naru. "It was an accident," he stated. "When Hina-sama called Keitarō-sama over to the Hinata-sō last spring, she never warned him ahead of time that the hotel had been transformed into an all-girl's dorm house. He got into a very embarrassing accident with Naru-sama and the others in the hot springs there. Ever since that time — though I will say all the girls are warming up to him — whenever he's got into embarrassing situations with them, Naru-sama and Motoko-sama have lashed out at him."

A snort answered him. "'Embarrassing situations?' 'Lashed out at him?' Man, what the fuck's the matter with you?! You all on something?!" Tokai demanded. "Haven't you heard how far that guy was sent flying by the kendō bitch?! Four times to Tomobiki, at least a half-dozen times I know of to Nerima, TWICE right into the Boss' compound in Roppongi…!" He shook his head. "It's a fuckin' MIRACLE he SURVIVED all that! Think it through, huh?! How could any person — even Moroboshi Ataru — survive all THAT?!"

"Simple, Takaya-kun! He had Taeko-sama protect him with her magic."

That was the other Avalonian who came with Akira today, Ikuyama Maiko. She had brown-striped blonde hair in a short, shaggy halo around her head and blue-green eyes, which gave her a wild look from a distance. As the others gazed on her, Akira smiled in delight as she came up to slip a warm arm around Tokai's. Maiko was one of a dozen girls among the Roppongi Avalonians who always made themselves available for Tokai Takaya to unleash his considerable sexual urges on; ever since he had lost his beloved wife Yūko thanks to a rival gangster ten years ago, Tokai had been a wild boar when it came to the fairer gender, gladly pillowing anything young and pretty that crossed his path. However, after his latest time in prison — which had been instigated ultimately by his wife's death and his seeking vengeance over that tragedy — the "wild boar" of the Sagara-kai had calmed down somewhat when it came to spending time with women. That, Akira knew, he could credit to Maiko and her sisters.

Indeed, it had been very wise to make an alliance with the Roppongi Avalonians.

He would have Tokai suggest doing that with the Avalonians to those of his friends down in Kyūshū when he went back to rejoin Wòhng Jiyèuhng in the enveloping campaign to wean the local Yakuza from the subordinate position they had been forced into years ago vis-à-vis the Sannō-kai. But that didn't mean that "Tokai's Angels" — as the lower rank of kobun had long come to jokingly nickname the beautiful girls the man often bedded…though never to the man's face; Tokai was VERY overprotective of Maiko and her sisters! — couldn't be allowed to unleash themselves. In fact, when Akira had spoken to Maiko herself late on Friday evening after Tokai returned from Kitakyūshū and the Angels all cornered him for a couple hours of celebratory "intimate therapy" after his adventures in Hong Kong and Okinawa, she volunteered her group — who had clearly picked up on a lot of things from their shared lover thanks to their telepathy — as a potential deep-cover reconnaissance force whenever the leader of the Sagara-kai needed that sort of work done and it would be the wrong thing to do to send obvious Yakuza kobun down to do it.

"Maiko-san? Tokai-san?" he then called out.

Both looked at him. "What is it, Boss?" Tokai asked.

"Can I speak to both of you in private?" Akira wondered.

Both nodded as they walked over close to the main entrance of the warehouse. As all the tōshi watched, Akira and Tokai offered their hands to Maiko, who warmly grasped them. "Holy shit!" Yoisuke hissed out after coming over to stand close to Torusuke, Yoiko and Makoto. "They're allowing her to probe their minds?"

"Are there any of the space babes here in town?" Makoto asked.

"Not that I know of," Yoiko affirmed. "But they'll come down soon. The bill our friend's oath-brother in the Diet proposed will pass by Tuesday at the latest. Once they're down here and forming a community close to us, we'll need to make friends."

"Agreed," Torusuke mused with a nod.

Within a minute, the psychic "discussion" between the leader of the Sagara-kai and his two subordinates was done. Maiko then walked over to stand before San Tokutarō. "Now," she said as her eyes glittered with a strange reddish-gold fire that made the Zainichi Korean pale in horror. "How many others of your old organization are down in Hinata City right now?" she calmly asked as she held out her hand, fingers splayed.

He gargled before shaking his head. "You can't…!"

She smirked. "I've been Takaya-kun's lover for two years, Tokutarō-san," Maiko stated. "I was there for him when he got out of jail after he was made to rot there for over a year after doing his best to seek vengeance for the loss of his wife. One day in the future, he'll give my bond-mate and I children. We Avalonians are no different than the Vulcans from _Star Trek_…and much that I would normally like NOT to do this, I will." She then winked. "Besides, do you _really_ want to piss off an A-rank tōshi AND the Destroyer of Kyōto…to say anything of _**Imperial Special Agent #49**_ herself?"

He blanched before slowly nodding as he slumped in defeat…

* * *

Molmol, the Royal Hospital in Molmol City, two hours later (local time: An hour after supper)…

"_**CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING?!**_"

Surya Patha took a deep breath before she turned to glare intently at Panda Gan. "If you would stop _yelling_ at me, young man, I might be able to do something!" the Royal Wizard snarled at the Grand Chamberlain, which made his knees go weak as her dark eyes flashed with outrage at being interrupted in her magical examination of the transformed Janta Jan.

All of the observers dispatched to Japan to keep a close eye on Kaolla Su — save for Tenna Kan; noting the absence of the one female member of the group, Surya prayed that the young witch was alright — were now in intensive care having multiple shattered bones and severe concussions dealt with. When the Noukiites — as it was now suspected since it was known that the Avalonians made use of a matter-energy conversion transport unit similar to the transporter system in _Star Trek_…though they called their system a "materialiser," spelling it using British conventions — transported the observers back from Hinata City, they had aimed at the wrong point with their teleporter device. The poor men had been teleported to a point a half-dozen metres ABOVE the front patio of the Royal Palace, sending them falling face first into the hard concrete below! And while none of them would die from such injuries, it would be a while before anyone could get any story out of those poor men.

As for the leader of that group…

"Whoever did this was a master at transfiguration, Mistress," the young apprentice now helping the Royal Wizard in her examination of the transformed Janta, Carra Nat, said. A very pretty girl who had graduated a year ago from the Dejima School, she had the typical dark skin and raven hair of a Micronesian, though her eyes were bright blue. She was busy trying every counter-spell she could think of to revert the poor man back to normal. "The magical energy behind this is just overwhelming!"

Surya sighed. "The Lady Taeko, Carra?"

The other woman blinked before she nodded. "Yes, Mistress. It has to be her."

"Then we have to strike back at her!"

Both gazed on the Grand Chamberlain. _What on Earth possessed the King to appoint this idiot into such a position in the first place?!_ Surya wondered to herself as she tried not to sneer at Panda. While magical, the man who was the senior officer serving the Throne at the Royal Palace had never been trained at any proper school like Salem, Dejima or Hogwarts. Much to Surya's surprise, he was self-trained since his father — who HAD gone to Durmstrang in Norway when he was younger — had insisted that his eldest son learn how to use his powers via home-schooling; at least Panda's brother Ganda had the chance to go to Seven Hills in America to learn his magic under the tutelage of proper teachers. When Surya had once asked why Panda had never been sent abroad — even to his father's old alma mater — Anda Gan claimed that he never wanted his sons to be exposed to the "idiocy" of Europe since he viewed their actions during the Nineteenth Century as the ultimate cause of all of Molmol's present problems vis-à-vis the rest of the world. Of course, anyone with any real sense of modern history would laugh at such an assertion, thus question the competency of Anda and his sons…but since they were cousins to the current king's maternal grandmother, Anda had been able to secure top positions in the court for both his children.

_Which was never really earned by this idiot_, the Royal Wizard mused as she took a deep breath. "So you wish to try to attack a woman who — four hundred years ago — killed a hundred thousand people? While she was possessing someone at the time?"

Panda jolted. "Wh-what…?"

"Obviously, your father's lessons never taught you a thing about the Destroyer of Kyōto," Surya coldly stated. "I took a whole semester on her at Dejima in my magical history classes, as did Carra here. You wish to square off against someone who has more than enough reason to defend her new home against what she sees as outside intrusion by a nation that has not won the favour of their Heavenly Sovereign? To defend her adopted brother — the man who gave his very _**blood**_ to see her free of Master Hosan's magic! — from what she views as a reckless child who has attacked said brother again and again over the last year without just cause? Who now is, no doubt, protecting some of those poor alien women who had been enslaved by the monster who shot OUR princess down in cold blood…and soon to welcome more of them at that old hotel in Hinata once the Japanese government allows it?" She then crossed her arms. "Go ahead, Panda. Go try to fight Lady Taeko. I wish you luck. But I also advise you to write your _**will**_ before you head off to Japan." She turned to continue her examination of the transformed Janta. "IF you can get there, of course."

THAT made Panda jolt. His brother had been trying to apparate over to places like Pararakelse and Tarawa — even going so far as to visit Majuro in the Marshall Islands proper! — for the last day or so ever since he had been shot in the back by some strange woman in John Fitzpatrick's office and sent back by means that still had many officials in the Royal Ministry of Magic scratching their heads. Try as Ganda might — and try as others might — they couldn't get anywhere; any attempt at leaving the island via that form of teleportation was turned back by what had to be powerful and wide-scale anti-apparition wards set up around all the nearby islands. Even an attempt at using a portkey to get to Pararakelse City had failed, which meant that anti-portkey wards were up also.

Molmol was now effectively cut off magically from the outside world.

It wasn't as bad as some might think, of course. Normal flights in and out of the airport hadn't been affected and the island's large fishing fleet could still transit in and out of local waters. Atop that, long-distance international portkeys could still be used to get to places like China. But since many Molmolites were magical and happy to make use of such power to get whatever they want, that they were now virtually blocked from using apparition from going anywhere they desired — even if most of them never travelled beyond the shores of their island — would make many of them nervous; they were still haunted by memories of the Greater East Asia War and the blockade of their island by the Americans after the attack on Tarawa. Those had been lean times for the natives of this island despite what Surya and those of her friends had done…and noting that THIS time, it was a MAGICAL blockade of sorts around Molmol…!

"We must do something!" Panda snarled. "I must speak to the King!"

With that, he stormed off. "Yes, you do that," Surya muttered under her breath before she slipped her wand into her robes. "Let's stop, Carra. If this was done by the Lady Taeko, I doubt we'll get anywhere trying to change him back today. I'm tired."

Hearing that, Carra nodded as she drew back her own wand. "I understand, Mistress."

With that, both moved to clean up. Janta had been stunned unconscious when he — on being returned home — discovered he was now a magpie; he would remain under magical stasis for the time being. Once all was restored to where it should be, Surya and Carra headed out of the room, proceeding down the hallway towards the room where Kaolla Su was still recovering. Much to the surprise of the Royal Wizard, Tirtha Sapta was seated in a chair across from the closed door leading to the princess' room, reading a book. "Tirtha?!" Surya called out, making the former royal governess look her way. "Why are you still here?"

The lovely woman smiled as she rose to her feet and grasped the hand of the older woman. "Since I came all the way down here to look in on Kaolla, I decided to stay here as long as I could to make sure she's alright," Tirtha answered as she put the book aside. "I heard the old bear yelling from down here. What's wrong with him?"

"He's moaning about the fact that one of the observers we sent to keep watch over the Princess in Japan was transformed into a magpie before they were all sent back," Carra explained. "He's also mad at the fact that no one's been able to apparate off the island for a whole day now."

"Oh, so his idiot brother can't go bother peaceful people in other countries like he's done in the past?" Tirtha asked with an arched eyebrow. "I remember what the moron was like when I was in the Palace. Goose-stepping around like he was one of the idiots who fought under Hitler or Grindelwald, believing himself to be the king of the whole world."

"I've tried to warn people about that attitude when it comes to foreigners, but they just simply don't listen," Surya noted as she moved to open the door into Kaolla's room.

Carra and Tirtha followed her, the former blinking in surprise on seeing the young princess' gynoid replicas seated around the bed, as still as mannequins. Stepping around the feet of several of them, they moved to stand to Kaolla's left — with Tirtha standing behind the two wand-witches — as the Royal Wizard moved to do a diagnostic. After a moment, she then nodded. "Did Wéi do something when you were here?"

"Actually she did…which means you can't be allowed to help heal Kaolla."

That made Surya blinked. "What…?!"

Hands then clamped on the place where the necks of both magicals flowed into their shoulders facing away from Tirtha. "I'm really sorry about this, but I can't allow you to hurt Kaolla more than you already have," the former royal governess said as both women croaked out before they collapsed into her arms. Grasping Surya's dropped wand, Tirtha then called up towards the ceiling, "Do you have a materialiser lock on me, Wéi?"

"Locked and ready, sister," the voice of a certain Chinese sorceress called back.

"Three to beam up! Energize!"

"Energizing!"

And with a shower of energy, the Elder Mother of the Avalonians of Molmol was whisked away with her unconscious prisoners, leaving a sleeping princess be…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Translations: **Ashi'cha** — Elder Mother, the spiritual leader of a Sagussan community; **Avalonjin** — Japanese way of saying "Avalonian"; **Sakazukigoto** — Literally "business cups," this is the formal ceremony Yakuza perform when doing things such as cementing relationships between clans, confirming succession, adopting new kobun into the overall family and adopting people as spiritual siblings; **Mondokoro** — Clan crest; **Furisode** — Literally "swinging sleeves," this is a kimono type with long sleeves ranging from 85-114 centimetres in length, which is normally worn by unmarried women in Japan; **Giri** — A Japanese value roughly corresponding to "duty", "obligation", or even "burden of obligation" in English…and most often defined as "to serve one's superiors with a self-sacrificing devotion"; **Haiden** — The oratory of a Shintō shrine; **Honden** — Literally "main hall," this is the most sacred place within the grounds of a Shintō shrine, meant only for the use of the kami and closed to the general public; **Tamagaki** — Literally "jade wall," this is the demarcation line that protects the honden from unwanted intrusion; **Tre'cha** — Literally "the passing on," this is an act that signifies when a Sagussan/Avalonian shifts his/her soul into a waiting receptacle like a friend or healer/nurse due to impending death…and could easily describe the shifting of a soul into a replacement body ("body-swapping") to allow a person to physically become an Avalonian; **Nauruan** — Demonym for a native of the Republic of **Nauru**; **Guamanian** — Demonym for a native of **Guam**; **Torii** — The main gate of a Shintō shrine; **Irezumi** — Literally "inserting ink," this is the common name for tattoos worn by Yakuza in Japan, which normally cover the person's back, shoulder and arms in a very decorative and colourful picture…which is a common sign that the person possessing such a tattoo is a criminal, thus would be normally denied basic customer services at places such as bathhouses and hot springs.

2) _Sanctuary_ character notes:

**Murata Ichijō** (the given name is my creation) is a veteran member of the Sagara-kai; he first appeared in the manga story "Balls" (manga episode #13). He was the man who made sure that Hōjō Akira's move to eliminate the former oyabun of the Sagara-kai went over well. He has no desire to become oyabun himself, but serves as Akira's senior adviser.

**Tokai Takaya** (the given name is my creation) was, as noted above, Akira's "elder brother" in the **Hokushō-kai** ("Clear North Society") when the latter joined the Yakuza after dropping out of high school. Tokai first appeared in the manga story "Bomb" (manga episode #9). He is a gruff, crude and not so intelligent man with a hair-trigger temper who is passionately loyal to those who win his respect…and brutally dangerous those who piss him off. He is also quite vulgar when it comes to women, gladly forcing himself all over them at the first opportunity…but given the death of his wife **Tokai Yūko** as depicted in one of the background scenes of the manga story "Dreams" (manga episode #12), such near-brutality flows from a lot of personal pain.

**Tashiro Reiji** has been Akira's chief lieutenant since the latter took over the Hokushō-kai from Tokai; he first appeared in the first manga story "Sanctuary." He came to the Yakuza — as depicted in a flashback scene in "Dreams" — to get money to save his young son **Tashiro Koichi** from a fatal childhood sickness…and Akira gladly helped him, winning Reiji's eternal gratitude, not to mention that of Reiji's wife **Tashiro Yumi**.

**Ichijima Yōsuke** first appeared in the manga story "Japan" (manga episode #18). As noted above, he was the godfather of the **Sagumo-kai** (the organization name is my creation), the Yakuza clan that helped support the rise of many dietmen — including his old friend and Asami Chiaki's penultimate opponent, LDP Secretary-General **Isaoka Norimoto** — who struggled to rebuild Japan from the ashes of World War Two. Because of that, he is seen as the senior statesmen of modern-day Yakuza. Akira won the old oyabun's favour by promising to "turn Japan upside-down" because Ichijima's generation ultimately created a country that "**_couldn't create men_**."

The **Nineties Association** is my renaming of the **Seventies Association** of baby boomer dietmen led by **Kariya Hisao**, who tried to lead a revolution in politics during the 1970s, but failed to get anywhere and wound up becoming nothing more than yes-men to Isaoka's generation of leaders. In the universe of this story, the Nineties Association rose in the wake of the crash of the real estate boom in Japan during the 1980s in protest over corruption and spending excesses in government…but haven't really got anywhere thanks to the vise-like hold Isaoka and his cronies have on the levers of government.

**Sakura Yūka** first appeared in the manga story "The Young Girl (manga episode #3). Akira used the potential threat of Yakuza interest in the then-high school senior to try to force her father, **Sakura Shūichi**, to eventually give up his seat in the House of Representatives and make way for Chiaki…though the sixty-eight year-old LDP veteran would still hang on even under the threat of Akira coming after him personally until Chiaki used incriminating pictures of Shūichi two-timing his wife **Sakura Chiyo** — which had been obtained by Akira's people — to make him finally resign his seat.

The "Kyōko" that Yūka speaks to Akira about is Police Superintendent **Ishihara Kyōko**, the deputy chief of the Roppongi station of the Tōkyō Metropolitan Police; she first appeared in the first manga story. Pursuing Akira as part of her duties, Kyōko soon finds herself overwhelmingly attracted to the young oyabun because of his single-minded drive in pursuit of his goals. In the latter part of _Sanctuary_, when Akira fully legitimizes the Sagara-kai and ceases all illegal operations, he and Kyōko begin a relationship.

The "hot American trade representative" Yūka also speaks of is Ms. **Bissett** (in this story, her full name is **Veronica Elizabeth Bissett**), who first appeared in the manga story "Decision" (manga episode #42). She is a hard-core supporter of American industry who views Japanese imports into her country with great distaste…but after an interesting demonstration by Asami Chiaki, she soon sees that the people she's fighting for need to stop being lazy and make themselves more competitive. Chiaki even challenges her to seek out the Presidency of the United States, promising that he would be Prime Minister of Japan when that happened.

And **Wòhng Jiyèuhng** is an ambitious up-and-coming member of the Chinese syndicates from Hong Kong that Tokai eventually befriends in his flanking campaign to help the Sagara-kai conquer all of Japan; he first appeared in the manga story "Hong Kong" (manga episode #25). When he was first introduced in _Sanctuary_, this man's name was translated into the Mandarin reading of the characters **黄志陽** (**Huáng Zhìyáng**). However, as Cantonese is the standard language in and around Hong Kong, the man's name was properly rendered in that language in later chapters of the manga (note that I use the Yale Romanization of Cantonese here, using the same type of tone marks that is used in the Pīnyīn Romanization of Mandarin).

3) **Médecins Sans Frontières** (literally "Doctors Without Borders") is a French-based secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization. Once awarded the Nobel Peace Prize as a group, MSF is best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases. Its headquarters is located in Geneva. The organization was first formed in 1971 by a small group of doctors and journalists who believed that all people have the right to medical care regardless of race, religion, creed or political affiliation, and that the needs of these people outweigh respect for national borders. In 2007, over 26,000 people — mostly local doctors, nurses and other medical professionals, logistical experts, water and sanitation engineers and administrators — provided medical aid in over sixty countries. These doctors decided to volunteer their time to solve issues of world health. Private donors provide about eighty percent of the organization's funding, while governmental and corporate donations provide the rest, giving MSF an annual budget of approximately US$400 million.

4) **Article Nine** of the 1947 Constitution of Japan states as follows (in the official translation): "_Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. To accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized._" Because of this particular article, the **Japanese Self-Defence Forces** — formed in 1954 — have always existed under a cloud of suspicion by those who support this particular part of the nation's basic law. Thus, while forces that could be used in the self-defence of the nation would be permitted — as some see the JSDF as a natural extension of the nation's police forces — to protect the sovereignty of the nation and its citizens, something like a **_battleship_** would clearly raise a lot of questions in a lot of people's minds.

5) In the history of the universe of this story, the **Steel Angels** were first developed during the time of the Taishō Democracy after World War One as a living symbol of peace and prosperity for all the nations of the world, not to mention allowing both cutting-edge magical technomancy and newly-developed technology to merge together into creating true artificial intelligences in the forms of young women who would symbolize their nations and national armed forces in peaceful competition such as the "Steel Angel War" depicted in the early volumes of the _Kōtetsu Tenshi Kurumi_ manga. In effect, these beautiful gynoids were to sub in for normal troops since women like Kurumi could resist things like machine gun bullets and mustard gas. When they were constructed, the Steel Angels were all programmed to serve human masters with high magical or spiritual potential such as the young onmyō-ji priest **Kasuga Nakahito**. Also, as noted in the first chapter of the manga "Kurumi Activated!", a Steel Angel was designed to only be activated with a kiss bestowed on the lips by a potential master or mistress. In conjunction with that, Steel Angels were programmed to **_never_** bring harm to a human being if such could be avoided; this is what drove them all — as noted in Part 52 of _Phoenix From the Ashes_ — to ask Dean Raeburn and Moroboshi Negako to help deactivate them all and hide them from potential abuse on sensing the coming of World War Two. Naturally, development of the technology that created girls such as **Ayanokōji Kurumi** — I gave her the family name of her creator, Professor Ayanokōji — would continue to advance between 1920 and 1937, thus making girls like **Maehara Makiko** and **Tamara Su** far more advanced in fighting capabilities and sheer power than older girls such as Kurumi and Shichinohe Kaga.

6) _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

The **Kōshi Kasshi** are my own creations, based on the **Yellow Turban** rebels who went to war against the Imperial Hàn in 184 C.E. Their modern incarnations first appeared in Part 21 of _Phoenix From the Ashes_.

**Ten'i** (**Sakan Somumi**) first appeared in manga episode #54. Her story is described in Part 16 of _PFtA_.


	11. The Royal Wizard Gets A New Life

The Avalon bioroid factory (at Lagrange Point One between the Earth and the Moon), inside Gestation Tower #49 (Tōkyō time: Sunday 21 February, an hour before breakfast; Molmol time: Two hours before lunch)…

"Oh, my heavens…so this is where all of you are born…"

"For many of us, yes," Tirtha Sapta stated with an apologetic bow to the severe-looking woman in the robes of a Shintō miko that had just been beamed aboard from a mountaintop shrine overlooking Nagasaki. "I do apologize for disturbing your morning, Thoughtmistress-prime. Given that Thoughtmistress-prime Surya was one of your subordinates…"

Yomigawa Tsukiko moaned as she followed the Avalonian-Molmolite ex-royal governess out of the small materialiser room. "Oh, dear…what did that silly girl do now?"

"It's what she ALMOST did that concerns me," Tirtha stated. "But before I explain that, I need to know something: Did you ever test Surya for ebony meson poisoning?"

The woman known in magical societies throughout both Earth and Nerio as the "Dark Lady of the Orient" blinked before she sighed. "Actually, I never did. As you can see by my eyes, I've not had the best of relationships with any form of meson." She waved to her solid-black orbs in emphasis. "I might have ended up like some of those idiots in the Übermenschen Gruppe in Germany or the Black Dragon Society in Japan hadn't I met Dean Raeburn shortly after Master Hosan took her on as his apprentice in 1920 and brought her to Japan. She used her Power Jewel to de-crystalize the meson my body had absorbed to ruby. My eyes, unfortunately, couldn't be changed back…but that's easily masked with just a glamour spell."

"Well, at least you'll have a nice, long, healthy life," the Elder Mother of the Avalonians of Molmol mused in return as they stepped into a turbolift. "Level Six!" she called out as the doors swooped closed and the car began to descend. "We've confirmed there is a vein of ebony meson buried in the Kasi Mountains; the radiation from that deposit is what's been behind the behaviour of all Terran-born natives of Molmol and those immigrants who've lived there for a very long time like my mother. However, there's possibly a ruby meson deposit in the Windy Desert; this is what we believe gives certain members of the Molmolite royal family their paranormal powers."

"Ah!" Tsukiko breathed out as the car stopped and they stepped out into a small reception area. "So you're trying to prevent young Kaolla from being killed or permanently crippled if Surya forced some sort of magical potion down her throat, right? Especially if the potion is made from ingredients grown locally?"

"Yes," Tirtha affirmed with a nod as they walked into one of the gestation rooms.

Once inside, Tsukiko stopped as her eyes took in the incredible scene around her. The gestation room was a circular space about the same size as an average high school classroom in Japan, possessing a high ceiling partially masked by thick tubing, vents and electrical conduits. It was lined on almost all sides by cylindrical glass tubes that could take in the largest known man on Earth snugly. Waist-high control consoles similar to the piloting and operations stations on the bridge of the starship _Enterprise_ from the second _Star Trek_ television series were set up in front of every fifth tube, each with a comfortable chair for a technician to sit on. A large work table with several chairs was near the middle of the room opposite where the main entrance was located. Equipment lockers lined the bulkheads to both sides of the entrance. A door lay exactly opposite from the entrance; as to where it led to, Tsukiko couldn't guess.

She then concentrated on the most prominent type of equipment of this room. Each of the enclosed glass tubes lining the curved bulkhead of this space were filled to the brim with a reddish-gold opaque liquid. Contained within most of the tubes in this room now were bald, white-skinned female humanoid figures which looked from a distance like department store mannequins. Each was sheathed in a form-fitting grey bodysuit that covered everything but the head and hands. None of these beings had noticeable distinguishing features that might mark then as unique. Several of the tubes were empty of such cargo…as note the fact that two young and beautiful women sheathed in the same type of bodysuit as their incomplete sisters within the tanks were now on diagnostic beds in the middle of the room. A third diagnostic bed was also present, that containing the unmoving body of the Royal Wizard of Molmol.

Watching over this right now was Tāng Wéi, who was performing some sort of diagnostic spell over Surya Patha's face. She was being assisted by another very beautiful woman, also Chinese in looks, though dressed in Western clothes with a doctor's white smock slung over her shoulders. A quick check with mage sight informed Tsukiko that Wéi's friend — the two were speaking in rapid-fire Mandarin that was going far too fast for even the Dark Lady of the Orient to follow without the use of a translation spell; she was fluent in both major languages of the Middle Kingdom but had fallen out of practice in using either Mandarin or Cantonese — was also an Avalonian. Also present was another woman from China, though she appeared to be in her early thirties and was dressed more conservatively than either her executive assistant or the doctor that had joined them. That woman was watching what Wéi and her companion were doing with rapt interest. Seeing that, Tsukiko could only smile; the current ambassador of mainland China to the International Conference of Magical Communities was a closet explorer at heart and was always interested in learning about all the new and fascinating things that caught her attention.

"So did you actually watch their new bodies be moulded, Xiùmǐn?" she teased.

Gāo Xiùmǐn gasped in shock before she noted who just came in with Tirtha. "Tsukiko! You scared me!" the ambassador breathed out before they exchanged polite bows. She then turned to gaze back as Wéi continued her work. "Yes, I did. It was just so incredible to watch. To feel the magic of the gestation fluid they use here turn these formless moulds into living beings after being given a sample of DNA…!" She shook her head as she glanced around the room. "And it was all done in an HOUR! Whoever built this place were geniuses at a level I can't _**begin**_ to imagine! I doubt even the greatest technomancers on Nerio could equal what this place can create so easily!"

"Well, those fellows on Nerio always like to fuse machines to living tissue. Doing that ultimately violates the flow of ki in the organic matter in a way that's never been healthy," Tsukiko stated. "What this place does — or so the Avalonians in Nagasaki explained to me after I met them in the wake of my meeting with His Majesty concerning these poor girls on Wednesday — is create a neutral 'base' body that can be moulded to match any humanoid DNA pattern with iron-based blood that is injected into it. Or — in cases where people want something totally new and fresh — the computers that control the whole process design something that could fit snugly into any known society without any problems at all. Even the mental and social programming…"

Xiùmǐn nodded. "Wéi told me of how it was like for the first while after she came out of one of these tanks in her parents' home back in Jǐnán. As emotionless as that Data fellow in that American television show from the 1980s. But given their empathy and telepathy, it was easy for her to learn how to emote like anyone else. Within a week, she was as natural as any of her normal Terran neighbours. Incredible!"

"Well, Father was a very popular man in Jǐnán," Wéi then confessed. "He was a bicycle repair shop owner. His business was focused mostly on making bicycles for children to use when they went to and from school; it was from those kids that my sisters and I ultimately learned how to emote." A wistful smile then crossed her face. "He was able to even incorporate some technological improvements he learned from friends who had observation posts in America and Europe; they made the bikes he repaired and built all the more efficient for his customers." She shook her head as she dispelled her scrying spells. "Sadly, he couldn't invent his own bicycle designs. Just mimic what others out there had created. The curse of his race."

The older magicals nodded. "What happened to Surya?" Tsukiko asked.

"Tirtha stunned her and her companion unconscious sometime after supper last night to have them brought up here so she could interrogate Thoughtmistress-prime Surya and learn what she had actually done to Princess Kaolla over the years," the other Avalonian-Chinese woman answered. Huáng Shèngyī was a native of the ancient capital city of Luòyáng and a graduate of the Xuánzàng Magical Academy with a grandmastery in mind-healing. She was also a certified M.D. in the normal world, having earned her degree from Běijīng University's famous medical school, specializing in clinical psychiatry. Like Wéi, Shèngyī got her magic thanks to a master in Kūnlún Pài who had come close to her when she was a child; her mother/mistress — who was like Wéi's parents when it came to matters both of faith and their "slaves" — had treated her charges quite humanely and had long desired a daughter she could call her own since she had been born barren and such had never been properly corrected back home. Also like Wéi, the mind-healer was exceptionally beautiful in the traditional Oriental way, with wavy black hair to mid-back and dark brown eyes that seemed to take in all she looked at. "When we brought her up here for me to do the mind-scan, something in Mistress Surya's mind clicked in and her brain totally shut down."

"Ah!" Tsukiko breathed out, nodding. "You won't be able to help her now, I'm afraid." As she sensed the Avalonians wince on realizing they might have just helped effectively _**kill**_ someone — even if Surya's heart was still beating — the Dark Lady of the Orient then smiled. "But all's not lost, especially when it comes to what I understand this place can do for you." She nodded to Surya's replacement body in emphasis. "This is something I made sure all those who fought under me during the Greater East Asia War were fitted with as a safety precaution in case those morons from Europe captured them and moved to interrogate them. Their souls would be absorbed into a meson crystal — ruby meson, that is — that I inserted between the lobes of their brains. Since so few in Europe had experience with that material, there was little chance of the crystals being yanked out of them…"

"Thus keeping operational security," Tirtha stated. "Wéi, is that still there?"

"Just a moment."

With that, the sorceress from Jǐnán whispered a spell. A second later, she then nodded. "Yes, it's in there. But the crystal appears to be damaged somewhat. I wonder if the ebony meson radiation from the Kasi Mountains affected it. Since she was born on Molmol and subjected to that radiation right from birth…"

"Get it out of her, Wéi," Xiùmǐn stated. "Let's see how bad it is. You can then have the old body stripped of her personal effects so that it can be readied for her new self."

"Right away."

With the use of a laser scalpel, the skull of the unmoving elderly Molmolite was opened, revealing her brain. On seeing that mass of grey matter, Tsukiko grimaced on noting the prominent streaks of black in the brain tissue. The sight of that reminded her of people who suffered from gangrene in their extremities after not having their wounds treated properly. With an extractor unit, the glowing red crystal was pulled out between the two lobes of Surya's brain. "Have the body stripped and destroyed," Wéi ordered.

"Right away," Tirtha said.

As the corpse was taken away by the former royal governess through the back door leading into the gestation room — a glance into it revealed to Tsukiko that it was full of large reactor-like devices; no doubt, that room also contained some sort of incinerator unit — Wéi walked over to a table-mounted sensor unit at the main work station. Placing the crystal down on the scanner plate, she tapped controls on a nearby dataPADD to commence a detailed scan. That took about five minutes; by then, Tirtha had returned with all of Surya's personal effects, including her wand. As the former royal nanny came up to join her sisters and their visitors, Wéi sighed. "Well, her _mei'na_ is still in here," she reported. "But it's been badly affected by ebony meson radiation, no doubt from the Kasi Mountains; she would have been exposed to this constantly since she returned to Molmol full-time after the Second World War ended." She breathed out. "Given that her body has been bombarded with ebony meson radiation since birth, it's a miracle to me that her soul was able to still retain a lot of her sanity and self-control even to today."

"Clean it up and give it to me," Shèngyī stated. "I can do some pre-programming with her before we do the _satre'cha_ and awaken her in her new body. In the meantime, you and Tirtha can help Carra there get back on her feet and tell her what's happened."

Everyone nodded as Wéi initiated a dry cleansing protocol…

* * *

Hinata, the Wafū Chabō Hinata, that moment…

Urashima Haruka's eyes fluttered open.

She blinked on sensing something that she hadn't felt since Friday morning before she smiled as she realized that there were now _**two**_ nude bodies pressing into her sides. _Was this how Keitarō felt when he started sleeping with these girls?_ the tea shop matron mused — she didn't know that her cousin had never slept with any of his would-be girlfriends until Wednesday night; he hadn't felt himself confident enough to go THAT far with any of them, even Mizote Toshiko — as she gently pulled Terazawa Masako and Nagashima Rio closer. As the Avalonians moaned their delight at being allowed to snuggle with their current intimate companion, Haruka smiled. _I definitely can get used to something like this!_ she mused to herself with a smirk before glancing over to the clock. Noting it now read 7:07 AM, she breathed out. "You girls awake?" she gently asked.

"Not really…" Rio whispered. "Just let me doze for an hour, Haruka-san…"

"Bad night?" Masako wondered as she slowly pulled herself up from the futon.

As Haruka tried not to stare too much at the other woman's well-shaped nude body, the hostess bar waitress breathed out, "Actually, it was weird. Some sisters from up in Roppongi came in and decided to go crazy on the Yakuza guys who're always there. Once the goons got chased out, things settled down and the patrons had a very pleasant evening."

That made the other women gape. "What?!" Haruka exclaimed, which made Rio yelp at the sharpness of that noise. "Since when did your sisters decide to take on the Yakuza?!"

Another groan escaped her. "Since they became PART of the Yakuza, Haruka-san," Rio answered. "The girls in Roppongi are full members of the Sagara-kai. They made a _sakazukigoto_ bond with the Sagara-kai because they were impressed by Hōjō Akira and his long-term plans for the Yakuza as a whole. The girls who came by the Sagami Café last night are actually all lovers of a really aggressive under-boss of that clan named Tokai Takaya."

That name made Haruka pale. "Crazy Tokai?!"

"Yeah, that's what they nickname him," Rio breathed out as Masako got up and moved to prepare some coffee from the instant machine Haruka had in one corner of the room. "That's what scared the Yakuza who ran the Café until last night. They're all former members of the Takeyama-kai and they knew the under-boss who killed Tokai-san's wife ten years ago; they ultimately lost any backing when their clan formally allied with the Sagara-kai last year. Now that the Sagara-kai is moving down into Hinata…"

Haruka breathed out, "Shit…!"

She had heard of how vicious the war had been between two of the three main Yakuza clans of Kantō a year ago. At first, it seemed as if the Kantō Takeyama-kai and the Tōnihon Dōmon-kai had gone after each other in vengeance over the death of the former group's oyabun, Imai Mutsuo, for some slight he may have unleashed on the latter group. Eventually, it died down when Imai's opposite number in the Dōmon-kai, Kawazu Seisuke, perished in a shoot-out with one of Imai's most passionate under-bosses, Tokuda Sadayuki. Once that happened, the survivors in the Takeyama-kai formally allied with the Sagara-kai as a subordinate group and the Dōmon-kai was effectively driven out of business…which made many Yakuza watchers immediately speculate that the bright young oyabun of the Sagara-kai, Hōjō Akira, had engineered the downfall of the Dōmon-kai and the subversion of the Takeyama-kai to effectively become the undisputed leader of all of Kantō's organized criminal operations. Haruka — who, like many Japanese, watched the events in the underworld with the same horrified fascination one experienced when one saw a fatal car crash; you were sickened by what was happening but just couldn't turn your eyes away from it! — could only shudder in fear at the idea of the Sagara-kai moving into Hinata.

Especially if the charge was led by an old-school Yakuza thug like Tokai Takaya.

The man often called "Crazy Tokai" by his peers was quite notorious as members of the Japanese underworld came. As Rio just hinted, on the murder of his wife Yūko ten years ago, he went insane and wrecked the rival gang that had struck her down, unleashing a level of urban warfare that was just too loud and too nasty for the police to ignore. Jailed for five years after the authorities got enough evidence on him to put him away in late 2006, he got out on good behaviour just over a year later and rejoined the Sagara-kai…to eventually become one of Hōjō Akira's top allies. He hadn't lost any of his brashness…to say anything of his lust for young female flesh; according to some Yakuza watchers, losing Yūko had shattered Tokai's heart and he chased after girls as a way of trying to find someone who was strong enough to take such a wonderful woman's place.

If he was now coming THIS way…!

"He won't be here," Rio breathed out. "Hōjō-san's got him working on something down in Kyūshū now. His 'angels' — these are a group of our sisters from Roppongi who've all scoped him out as a potential child-mate — are going to run things down here."

Hearing that, Haruka nodded in understanding. Given the fact that the Avalonians were looking at things from an outsider's perspective, it wasn't really surprising that there were some of Rio's sisters who would actually view someone like Tokai Takaya sympathetically and want to help him heal from his wife's death and move on with his life. That was really no different than Rio's and Masako's sisters helping Urashima Taeko become human on Thursday; in their eyes, an imprisonment of over four centuries imposed on the tokkaebi once known as T'aeja by Hosan Hirosuke was simply cruel and unusual punishment — especially when one factored in the circumstances that brought her to Japan in the first place! — and helping her be free from being caged like that was simply the right and humane thing to do. While Haruka could try to understand that approach to things — even if she still was intimidated by her new adopted cousin — given how desperate the Avalonians were at this time to make allies on Earth, she hoped they wouldn't go too crazy and forgive the actions of someone like _**Usāmah bin Lādin**_!

"No, we wouldn't go _that_ far," Rio noted as she slowly picked herself off the futon before nodding thanks as Masako came over to hand her a cup of coffee. "But we would try to understand what would motivate people to try to fight for that guy, then help them make better lives for themselves and help their homelands dig themselves out from the idiocy forced on their natives by their leaders because of the Cold War and all that."

Haruka nodded…before she perked on hearing footfalls echo from the stairs leading to her small apartment. A knock then echoed, no doubt from one of the walls of the stairwell. "Good morning!" a strange woman called out. "Ms. Haruka?!"

"C'mon up, Sandy!" Rio called back as she grasped Haruka's hand. «She's okay.»

The tea shop matron nodded as footfalls heralded the arrival of a pretty dark-haired, hazel-eyed woman appearing to be in her mid-twenties, possessing round-frame reading glasses. She was dressed in a very tastefully-designed Hawai'ian shirt and slacks that showed off a pair of well-shaped legs, the shirt covered by a knit cardigan sweater. She was Western in looks…and, much to Haruka's surprise, had the badge of the Sagara-kai on her right collar. "Good morning, Ms. Haruka, sisters," she said with a polite bow of her head and upper body, speaking with a noticeable English accent. She then smirked as her eyes twinkled. "I hope I'm not interrupting the orgy."

"Would you like to join us?" Masako teased.

A chuckle responded. "No, Masako, I know your shared lover here has a different man in mind as a future child-mate than my bond-mate and I do," she confessed before she knelt beside the futon to offer her hand to Haruka. "I'm Sandy Gallagher, Ms. Haruka. I'm one of Tokai's Angels; we'll be the people who'll sweep down here to make sure any stray lambs from defunct groups such as the Dōmon Association won't cause problems for all the legitimate businesses in Hinata. We'll be basing ourselves at the Sagami Café for the time being…but we do hope for the chance to enjoy the hot springs here."

"Well, you'll have ask the new landlady of the Hinata-sō about that, Sandy-san," Haruka said as she warmly squeezed the other woman's hand. "I think they'll be opening up some of the hot springs for public use, but I can't say when. The city's planning to sell the old hotels to the north and south of the Hinata-sō to Keitarō so they could be renovated for extra apartments to allow your sisters still up in orbit more places to live once they're allowed to come down later this week. I'm sure allowing you girls the chance to get at the hot springs themselves is on the table, but I can't say exactly when."

"That's good."

"Would you like some coffee?" Masako offered.

"Please. It's been a long night going over the books of the Sagami Café," Sandy said with an amused grin. "The master of the place assumes you'll be quitting sometime soon to join your bond-mate up here at the Hinata House, Rio. Once we get all the financial issues straightened around, you'll get a nice severance package for all the hard work you've put in there."

"I'll be doing that," Rio noted. Haruka knew that Masako had already turned in her letter of resignation to the owner of the Family Mart at the west end of Hinata-dōri so she could work at the Wafū Chabō. "But not until we arrange for sisters — preferably outer colony girls who won't have any hangups doing escort work — to take my place."

Sandy nodded. "More than understandable. They'll have enjoyed normal lives for themselves on the most part, so they should make nice dates for lonely people. Which space factory are you using for the rebuild of the Hinata House?"

"Three-nineteen," Rio answered.

"Alright, I'll start soliciting around. The vote on the Immigration Bill might be as early as Monday, so the sooner we get new workers down here, the better."

"Why are you doing that?"

Sandy blinked on hearing that question, and then she moved to sit on the tatami mat as Masako walked over with a cup of coffee. "You must be surprised that I'm a Yakuza, Ms. Haruka," the Avalonian-Englishwoman stated as she nodded her thanks. "Do you think I'd gladly grab a Lawgiver and kill someone if they anger me anytime in the near future?"

Haruka jerked before she sighed. "Well, given who your boyfriend is…"

Sandy chuckled. "I expected that," she admitted. "And yes, Takaya can be a very violent man when the mood strikes him. But the one thing that attracted we 'angels' — as we're called by the rank-and-file kobun of the Sagara Alliance as a group — to him was his loyalty."

That made the older woman blink. "Loyalty?"

"Yes, loyalty. You do him right, he gives you a hundred-and-ten percent in return. You treat him with respect, he respects you back. He and Yūko were lovers long before he got his irezumi and joined the Sagara Alliance fifteen years ago. She supported him through thick and thin, comforting him when he was hurt, standing by him when he pulled stupid acts that got him arrested because he was hungry to rise to godfather…" She then sniffed back tears. "Then those bastards working for one of the old under-bosses of the Takeyama Alliance killed her for no other reason than to hurt him because he was such a dangerous man working for Mr. Sagara. It nearly destroyed Takaya. You have a good idea what happened next, I believe." She sipped her coffee. "He is very strong in so many ways…yet so hideously vulnerable in others. When we were all asked to be his sex partners the day they got him out of jail at the start of '08, we all vowed — with the support of our mistress — that we would be there for him no matter what."

"Was he shocked when he learned the truth about you girls?" Haruka asked before nodding thanks as Masako handed her a cup of coffee before preparing one herself.

"He was actually more flattered than anything else," Sandy said with a grin. "But when it all sank in, he actually asked the lieutenant in charge of the Imperial Marines platoon now in Roppongi if he could go speak to our mistress aboard the prison ship." She then chuckled. "She was one of Grandfather Ganzo's silent supporters; she'll be most likely acquitted when she finally faces Star Chamber on Tengsei, then allowed to resettle somewhere nice and safe in the Imperial Outmarches. Well, Takaya was allowed up to the prison ship to see Aunt Ameko — that's her Earth name, Takao Ameko — and when she realized who he was, she gave him her blessings to date all of us and asked him to take care of us."

The tea shop matron nodded. "Pity she can't come back to Earth."

Sandy shrugged. "Maybe in a few years. Right now, there's too much xenophobia concerning the Niphentaxians and their allies in the Galactic Federation running rampant in the halls of government thanks to that anti-matter bomb, not to mention all the fool stunts Hensō and her friends pulled when they were living in Tomobiki." She then sighed before finishing her coffee. "We won't try to force any protection payments from any of the legal businesses in Hinata unless they desire to have us help shield them from potential problems. With your grandmother's former squad of enforcers — they were all ex-Dōmon people if you didn't know — now permanently dealt with, there should be no problems in the future concerning your cousin's plans for the Hinata House. However, if someone does move to launch something that meets the disapproval of the normal people here, call us and we'll act." She handed a meishi over.

Haruka gazed on the card, trying not to smirk too much. Alexandra Joanna "Sandy" Gallagher, Chief Accountant/Financial Investigator, Tokai Investigative Services. She knew that Yakuza clans often formed _bakechō_ — fraudulent private investigation firms that often targeted people for blackmail purposes — as a way of generating income, but she suspected deep down that Sandy and her sisters from Roppongi would actually want to do everything they could to make their new company as legitimate and trustworthy as possible. If it was Tokai Takaya himself that had made his "angels" create this company on his own vocation, Haruka wouldn't have trusted the people working for it as far as she could throw any of them to the Moon. But since Tokai was working ultimately under a man like Hōjō Akira — who had been targeted by the Avalonians in Roppongi so that a formal working alliance could be formed between them and the Sagara-kai — it might be alright.

"Let's hope people aren't as stupid as that," Haruka then stated as she placed the meishi by her small Rolodex of business cards. "If you'll give us a little time to get washed up and dressed, we can make some breakfast for you and your sisters."

Sandy blinked before she smiled. "Actually, we're all a little famished; the rest of them are staying in the apartment above the Sagami Café right now." She then perked. "Oh, I forgot! Mister Hōjō would be interested in coming here when it'll be convenient to pay his proper respects to the Lady Taeko. Could I discuss that with her sometime today?"

Haruka gaped in surprise at the other woman…

* * *

Molmol City, the Royal Palace (local time: An hour before lunch)…

"You look like you did in your graduate pictures from Dejima!"

A blushing Surya Patha — who looked now as if she was twenty years old, her hair a rich and vibrant red and tied in a French braid to mid-back as her dark blue-grey eyes twinkled with new-found passion and delight — scratched the back of her head in embarrassment. "Well, potions accidents are always a hazard when it comes to people like myself, Your Majesty," she confessed. "It was just blind luck that this particular potion did THIS to me!" She waved to her unlined face in emphasis. Despite her new and youthful body, the Royal Wizard was still dressed in the formal robes of her official position, which covered more than what normal Molmolite women would usually wear. "I guess it's because I had to compensate for your fiancée's ability to grow to adulthood during the times of the Crimson Moon that this happened to me."

"It's permanent?" Amalla Su asked from her place to Lamba Lu's right.

"It is, young lady."

Hearing that stern voice made many in the reception hall shudder as the woman in the stately robes of a Shintō miko came up to stand beside her rejuvenated subordinate. To any Molmolite, there was no mistaking who SHE was. But there was no anger directed her way; despite all the problems the Japanese government and people had caused before 1945, the natives of Molmol all knew what had driven Surya Patha to offer her wand and duelling skills in the service of the Dark Lady of the Orient during what was know to magicals worldwide as "Tsukuyomi's War of Liberation."

Unlike other Japanese leaders of the period, the nigh-immortal woman born as Yomigawa Tsukiko in the village of Saza near the great naval port of Sasebo in the northwest part of Kyūshū in 1875 had never done what she did for the sake of simple conquest or catching up to the nations of Europe. No, the woman who was honoured with the courtesy name "Tsukuyomi-no-Tsukushi" by the Shōwa Emperor himself for services she rendered to the Heavenly Sovereign in the 1920s and 1930s had done that for reasons that had won her the respect and admiration of her American opponents during the Greater East Asia War: She launched her campaign to destroy the International Confederation of Wizards in 1939 after two years of covertly supporting magical freedom fighters across Asia and Oceania — and by extension Africa as well — then living in the colonial empires of all the major European powers to literally wreck that organization and free the enslaved magicals of all those colonies, granting them the fundamental right of self-determination they had been denied for decades if not centuries. Forming a magical army steeped in the traditions of the samurai and the ninja of old, Tsukiko allied with then-German Minister of Magical Affairs Gellert Grindelwald as he moved to impose his vision of the Greater Good, launching her campaign into Indochina at the very moment Germany invaded Poland.

With the magicals of Europe distracted by the then-master of the Elder Wand and his rampaging magical army, Tsukiko burned a wide swath from Indochina to the Indian subcontinent to the East Indies. Horror stories soon spread across those territories she hadn't touched of frightened European-born wizards and witches fleeing in mortal terror at the sight of the silver-clad female samurai on a jet-black wild nightmare named Kenchū, which Tsukiko was said to have tamed after stalking him for a month in the steppes of Siberia when she sought such a handsome mount. For those stupid or arrogant enough to actually try to face this youthful Japanese woman with the eyes as dark as blackest night head on, she gladly cut them down with a blade forged of pure mesonium in the same 60-30-10 percent balance of diamond, ruby and ebony as the Power Jewel welded by Dean Raeburn — and supposedly having been bestowed with the personal blessings of the Protector of All Life herself! — that she named Senkō.

Said blade soon earned a reputation of being the _**one**_ magical weapon ever forged that could, with ease, turn away repeated Killing Curse strikes hitting one right after the next without any damage; not even the fabled goblin-forged Sword of Godric Gryffindor could endure something like _**that**_!

With that blade and an army of five thousand determined warriors riding at her side, Tsukiko ultimately inflicted fifteen thousand casualties on her enemies between 1939 and 1945, only suffering 162 dead in return.

At the same time, Tsukiko and her army — with the strategic assistance of Grindelwald's brigade of over four thousand normal-born hit-witches, the Schwarze Mädchen, who carried out missions to destroy the "loyalty stones" located in London, Brussels, the Hague and Paris that effectively wiped out all European control over the magicals of their colonial empires — would ultimately LIBERATE over TEN MILLION enslaved wizards, witches and magical beings during that very same time period.

That had been enough to win her respect from the Americans — who had long wanted to see the ICW reformed or replaced by something that wasn't so human-centric, Europe-centric and blood-centric — when they realized what Tsukiko had been really doing by the start of 1945 thanks to their Filipino allies; the magicals of Japan and America had NEVER inflicted the horrid mental enslavement on magical Koreans, Taiwanese and Filipinos that their European counterparts had gladly done elsewhere. Realizing they had a way of bringing the War of Liberation to an end with honour and respect for all sides, the Americans — at the prompting of a nisei Seer — dispatched a special team to rescue the last Mahō-Shōgun of Japan and her chief advisers from their base in Nagasaki's Dejima district on a cloudy day in August that year just before a B-29 Superfortress named _Bockscar_ flew overhead with its apocalyptic cargo. Saving her life from the Fat Man bomb gained the Americans and their allies the full moral support of the Dark Lady of the Orient — and with that, the support of those peoples she helped free over the previous six years — in forming a new "International Conference of Magical Communities" to take the ICW's place as the worldwide meeting hall of all magicals living on Earth. The traditional ICW bastions in Europe — despite their howling protests over "mudbloods" and "dark creatures" actually assuming THEY knew how to govern themselves without "learned" guidance from the pureblood gentry that had dominated politics on that continent for centuries — were, thanks to the damage Gellert Grindelwald and his forces had unleashed, eventually forced to submit to the ICMC within five years of the end of World War Two…despite the efforts of a former lover of Grindelwald's who had bested him for the Elder Wand in the Battle of the Gates of Nurmengard, Albus Dumbledore, to make Tsukiko admit to war crimes in hopes of discrediting the ICMC so things could be restored "to the way they should be."

Because of that, many magicals outside Europe — including those on Molmol — viewed Yomigawa Tsukiko today with the profound respect she long deserved even if she lived these days in semi-retirement at her beloved mountaintop shrine, Tenmon-jinja, overlooking Nagasaki. Those inside Europe still viewed her with loathing…though the arrogant fools in charge of those lands got a very bloody reminder of what pissing off the Dark Lady of the Orient could unleash in the summer of 1997 when she loaned both Kenchū and Senkō to Harry Potter in his "Death Eater Season" campaign to wipe out Voldemort and his allies.

Some of the people inside the reception hall of the Royal Palace — on feeling the waves of pure power emanate from every pour of Tsukiko's body — were now realizing why so many worldwide still feared this woman.

Personally, Tsukiko didn't care about what the fools around her thought. While she did have a level of personal responsibility when it came to the health of a woman who had volunteered to fight under her during the Greater East Asia War — and had, when she was Mahō-Shōgun, been morally responsible for the magical welfare of the natives of Molmol; she had learned by then all the horrid effects ebony meson unleashed on human beings — even to today, she was just one person in the end and didn't wish to waste time trying to thump arrogant and stubborn idiots on the head to make them see what they were doing wrong. Like Aoyama Tsuruko, Yomigawa Tsukiko had sensed the echoes of sadness, anger and pain in the ki of the Hinata-sō when she visited that old hotel on Wednesday evening; it hadn't taken her long to conclude what had happened inside that old hotel and why. Atop that, she would have personally done anything to see to it that T'aeja of Chosŏn was finally freed of the ghastly imprisonment forced on her by Hosan Hirosuke four centuries ago. Unfortunately, for all her power, Tsukiko didn't have the unique type of magic needed to overturn anything the Immortal Master had done thanks to his own magic being ultimately powered by the ebony meson that had flowed in his blood for five millennia. One ultimately needed Dean Raeburn for that sort of task…and it was simply anyone's guess when Earth's Jewel Warrior would return to Earth after a time training younger sisters somewhere in the Universe in using the Seekers' Gifts; the former commanding officer of the War Hawks could only be recalled by direct order of the Prime Minister of Canada…and that would only happen in times of potential worldwide holocaust such as a possible Urusian invasion of Earth as what might have occurred the previous summer had Moroboshi Ataru lost in his tag race against Redet Hensō.

That the Avalonians had helped T'aeja be finally free without question or hesitation showed the Dark Lady of the Orient that the bioroids were a force for good and needed to be treated as such for humanity's future.

After all, all one had to do was look at what just happened to Surya herself, much less her young apprentice Carra Nat.

"How will this interfere in your creating a potion for Princess Kaolla?"

That was Panda Gan, a pathetic fat waste of a man who always seemed to puff with the pride he did not deserve to express as he strutted like a peacock before his young king. Gazing on the obese idiot, Tsukiko tried not to groan. She had encountered morons like this again and again in her thirteen decades and more of life. While she was tempted to transform this loud fool into something more befitting — say a blue jay; at least the noise such a beautiful songbird made was quite pleasant to the ears — she held back. A young girl's life was now in potential danger and this arrogant twit might do something which could cause a lot of unnecessary pain and misery to that girl, much less many other innocent souls on this island.

Besides — despite their not realizing what they could have done to Tsukiko's old subordinate when they brought Surya and Carra aboard the bioroid factory the previous evening — the Avalonians had done all they could to make the lives of the Royal Wizard of Molmol and her current assistant better, as they did another bright young witch from this island named Tenna Kan, who was still in Hinata trying to plead her princess' case with Urashima Taeko and her brother Keitarō. _Giri_ demanded that Tsukiko respect the bioroids' desire to uplift the lives of those they chose to bestow their favour on, ensuring harmonious relations between Terran and Avalonian. That would become quite necessary in the near future once the reborn Xiàolíng Emperor of the Latter Hàn Dynasty — Moroboshi Negako told her friend THAT secret about her adopted sister Hiromi — used the threat of the Children of the Seekers' Forge on Yiziba to browbeat the Urusians and their allies into submission, then the leaders of the Seifukusu Dominion were persuaded to let thirty useless, money-draining colonies they now possessed in solar systems close to Earth fall under joint Terran/Avalonian control.

"Regretfully, I'd have to start all over again," Surya said. "What I created so far was lost in the accident."

"Well, at least you're alive and healthy," Lamba said as he gazed in amusement at some of the young men in the room as they tried to mentally undress the now youthful-looking Royal Wizard. "Still, is there any way that you can speed this up?"

"Actually, yes," Surya answered as she waved to Tsukiko. "My former mistress here — when she came to Molmol on sensing what just happened to me — learned what I had been doing and took the chance to examine your fiancée herself at the Royal Hospital. She knows of ways to regenerate the Princess' nerves in such a way that would see her back on her feet within _**days**_ instead of weeks." As people gasped in delight on hearing that, the Royal Wizard added, "Even better, she is personally acquainted with the Lady Urashima Taeko. Members of the Konoe Shinmei-ryū made use of the Yōkatana Hinata during the Greater East Asia War in support of my former mistress' campaigns against the ICW. She has also tried on several occasions to free the Lady Taeko herself from her horrid imprisonment. She has volunteered to serve as an intermediary between yourself on Princess Kaolla's behalf and the Lady Taeko herself concerning the Princess' continued stay at the Hinata House."

"There will be no…UURRK!"

As people watched, Panda was grasping his throat after Tsukiko had raised a hand and made a pinching motion with thumb and index finger. "I find your lack of respect towards my former subordinate disturbing," the Dark Lady of the Orient stated as she tried not to grin on seeing the Grand Chamberlain gasp for breath. She _loved_ that line in _Star Wars_ even if she hadn't exactly quoted what the man born Anakin Skywalker had said in that meeting room on the Death Star. And if she ever had the luck to meet Darth Vader in whatever dimension he existed in, she might do the poor man a favour and help restore him to a semblance of full health…if she didn't kill the fool for not keeping his suffering wife and their unborn children prominently in mind before listening to Palpatine's offer as shown in _Revenge of the Sith_. "Now be quiet and let more learned people speak. You do not speak for the royal family of Molmol; your king does. If this was the court of my Emperor, I would have killed you right then and there for such appalling disrespect."

She then smirked on seeing Amalla give her a grateful look in return; no doubt, Panda had been quite disrespectful to the crown princess/heiress apparent of the Molmolite throne as well. _Might need to make this idiot suffer some long-term curses in response to that!_ the Dark Lady of the Orient then mused to herself as she eased off a little bit on the moron's throat; there was no need to kill him, but the point still had to be fully driven across that there was a time and place for a fool like him to open his mouth. Given that Tsukiko knew she would only break even in a magical duel with Taeko if what young Konoe Konoka had learned of the former tokkaebi's full magical power was true on Friday, this was clearly neither the time nor the place for an arrogant twit like Panda Gan or others of his ilk to voice such disrespectful opinions that could ultimately unleash blood-feud between the Urashima Clan of Hinata and the Royal House of Molmol.

Ignoring the gasping from his own chief of household, Lamba adjusted his glasses. "She is willing to allow Kaolla to go back, Lady Tsukiko?" he then calmly asked; clearly, the young king didn't care too much for the histrionics his grand chamberlain often displayed in the Palace.

"She is…with conditions, Your Majesty," Tsukiko stated. "First one: Your observers — save for a bright young witch named…what was her name again, Surya?"

"Tenna Kan, Mistress," Surya answered.

"Thank you. Save for young Tenna, all your observers are to be _**permanently**_ withdrawn from Japanese national territory, not to be replaced by ANYONE," the older woman stated. Ignoring the looks of outrage from some of the people around her, she then added, "Second condition: Given that she misses the poor girl very much, Princess Kaolla's former governess Tirtha Sapta will also be allowed to move to Japan to be your cousin's legal guardian while in residence at the Hinata-sō. Third condition: Princess Kaolla will NOT be allowed under any circumstances to harass, bother or do ANYTHING with Taeko's brother Keitarō unless he grants her the right to come visit him. In other words, no more playing with weapons; the Hinata-sō's main building ultimately has to be completely torn down and rebuilt from foundation up by Taeko's Avalonian friends thanks in part due to the shock damage your cousin unintentionally unleashed with her inventions over the last year." As people gaped in disbelief at the Dark Lady of the Orient, she sighed. "Those three conditions are non-negotiable, Your Majesty. If you cannot agree to them, I will have Kaolla brought to my shrine in Kyūshū and we will have her healed right away before returning her home. Which will make her a very unhappy young lady…or so I've sensed from her."

People moaned out on hearing that statement from the famous Japanese freedom fighter. Lamba blinked as he took that in before he took a deep breath. Noting this, Tsukiko tried not to smirk too much. She could sense how much the young king cared for his cousin. She could also sense that he didn't want to force Kaolla into anything — even their being married — until such time as she was ready to face that particular time in her life. He also didn't want to appear weak, even in the face of a potential threat against his kingdom by the Destroyer of Kyōto herself…which was understandable despite doing such being totally reckless, especially given Taeko's more-than-understandable determination to protect her brother.

_One can't force ebony meson victims into accepting help; what happened during the war proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt_, the Dark Lady of the Orient mused to herself. _A pity the wise people on Sagussa who built that bioroid factory restricted its capabilities into making only girls. I don't want to go to China to raid that valley of magical springs, then get hold of that locking ladle from those idiot therianthropes the Nǚjiézú fight all the time._ She then paused as she considered that point before mentally adding, _Then again, unleashing a virtual SEA of male Avalonians so soon after Terran and Avalonian came together would have been more hurtful than helpful in the long term. The prevalent attitudes many on Earth hold towards women and their place in the grander scheme of things will actually work in the Avalonians' favour if they play their cards right, especially in places like the Middle East and Africa. At least Negako-chan was wise enough to see that ahead of time…!_

"Agreed…as long as you take Kaolla under your personal protection, Lady Tsukiko," Lamba then stated. "I don't trust the Destroyer of Kyōto."

Tsukiko nodded in understanding as Panda — who had been finally let go from her magical throat vise, but had stayed quiet — turned to gape in shock at the younger man. "Agreed," the Dark Lady of the Orient calmly stated. "I'll have to arrange guest quarters either on the Hinata-sō grounds or nearby for Surya to stay while she works on her potion. I assume, young lady, you'll assist your mistress?" she then asked Carra.

The young witch gave a deep bow in response. "Yes, Mistress Tsukiko."

"Alright, then. I'll arrange for the portkey to take the princess back to Japan on Wednesday morning; by then, the reconstruction of the main part of the Hinata-sō will be done so she can move back into her old room. If you'll excuse me, Your Majesty, I'll be off to speak to Taeko."

And with a bow, she teleported herself out of the chambers. Once she was gone, Panda spun around. "Your Majesty! You can't let that monster dictate…!"

"**_QUIET!_**"

The Grand Chamberlain ducked as the king bolted to his feet to glare down at the older man. "I will not do anything within reason that will make Kaolla _**cry**_!" Lamba coldly declared. "If you can't accept that, Master Panda, you will be relieved of your duties!"

As Panda turned white with horror on hearing THAT threat from his monarch, Surya politely smiled. "If you wish, Your Majesty, I will go see Tirtha and inform her of what has to happen."

Lamba nodded. "Do so, Surya. Kaolla missed her very much; I wonder if her wanting to head off to Japan was actually provoked in part because Tirtha was removed as her governess."

As Panda jolted on hearing THAT scathing comment from the young monarch of Molmol, Lamba sighed as he turned to escort Amalla out of the room…

* * *

The village of Kasi on the north coast of Molmol, fifteen minutes later…

"So how soon can we have all the women in the village undergo body-swaps?"

"Within a week," the technical expert of the Avalonians of Molmol stated. Charan Tor was like other natives of this beautiful island: Possessing the beautiful olive-brown skin of a native of India matched to the silky black hair and dark eyes of a Micronesian. She kept her hair normally cut short at mid-neck and she wore reading glasses over her eyes. She also was in maternity dress as she was at least four months along with twins. As Tirtha had explained to her new friends in Pararakelse on Friday, the Avalonian-Molmolites had started to give in to ever-growing nesting urges two years ago, when it was effectively confirmed that no replacement observer for Tirtha's mother was coming from Phentax Two and they were — save for the genetic locks deep in their bodies — effectively free to live their own lives as they so chose to live them; no doubt, the meson that was on the island had played a big factor in cutting them off from their supervisors in Lumukyō, thus making them the surviving crew of one of the "Lost Posts." "I'll have full shielding generator systems set up around the village to keep any nosey idiot from the government out of the village and the area around it by tomorrow morning at the earliest. Once that's done — and once we get samples of the DNA-recombination therapy drug the Noukiites had perfected for friends of the Flower Youth ready to be injected into all the men of the village — the whole village should be genetically Avalonian within two weeks at the outset. After that…" She then impishly shrugged.

Tirtha nodded in delight as she leaned down to kiss the other woman on the lips. "Wonderful!" the Elder Mother said. "Now, if you'll excuse me…"

Charan chuckled as her sister stepped out of her small work office on the second floor of Kasi's village hall. Walking down the hallway to the second floor landing of the main stairwell, Tirtha paused to stare out the windows at the surrounding scenery. The village itself was a typical fishing hamlet located in a hill-framed shallow bay emptying into the Pacific Ocean. Blessed with the beautiful architecture that had been in high style during the heyday of the Mughal Empire, Kasi had a lovely temple — the Arjumand Banu Mosque — in the centre of town, a village market near the docks on the shore of the bay and had streets lined with houses that were equipped with all the modern amenities one might find in any home in America; one would never find the horrid shantytowns one saw in the great cities of India anywhere on Molmol. As she gazed upon the village she had been born in fifteen years ago in the form of a young teenager, Tirtha could only smile with delight. Soon, her small corner of the Universe would be as safe as she could possibly make it. Once that was done, she could finally concentrate on seeking out a bond-mate of her own and finally give in to the nesting urge that had already given her several nieces and nephews and would soon bring many more into her extended family.

"Are you alright, Tirtha?"

She blinked before smiling as Surya — now in more common women's clothing for natives of Molmol — came up to gently grasp her hand; the other woman had been waiting for her in the main floor foyer. Once Surya and Carra had departed from the Royal Palace, both had apparated themselves to Kasi to rejoin their new sisters; the latter had gone right away to Tirtha's home be examined by the group's in-house medical specialist while the former had come with Tirtha to the village hall so the _ashi'cha_ could see for herself how things were progressing when it came to improving the lives of everyone here. Finally away from the sycophants and attention-seekers in Molmol City, the Royal Wizard could let her guard down and allow the programming installed in her earlier by Huáng Shèngyī to take control and revert her to what she now believed she really was: A newly-activated Avalonian bioroid _**clone**_ of Surya Patha.

Of course, there was no questioning what she was in Tirtha's eyes; this woman WAS Surya Patha given new life, free of the ebony meson that had scarred her old body and soul for many decades. She just needed a little time to get used to her new body's wonderful capabilities and fully awaken to the Te'a to see that. Once she was sure of herself, she could then get on with her now-VERY extended life and continue to serve Molmol as best she could for many years to come. "I'm fine, Surya," the royal governess replied as she guided the other woman towards the main doors. "We're just getting things started on our plan to get the DNA of everyone here upgraded to Avalonian norm or get body-swaps done for those women who might desire them. Once that's all finally done, we can concentrate on dealing with the issue of the ebony meson in the mountains. Maybe we won't need to wait for Major Raeburn to come back from her latest training trip out there somewhere." She nodded up towards the sky in emphasis. "Even if people like you call her the 'Protector of All Life'…"

"She's only one person. Being dependant on only _**one**_ person is foolish in the end."

Tirtha nodded. "Right. Besides, if we de-crystalize the meson in the mountains to ruby format and allow the radiation to flow out to wash over the rest of the island, it should make things much easier in the long term for everyone else on Molmol."

Surya grunted. "Why didn't she see…?"

"You."

The other woman jerked. "Tirtha! I'm not her."

"Are you doubting Thoughtmistress-prime Tsukiko?" Tirtha teased.

The Royal Wizard jerked before rapidly shaking her head, which made the royal governess grin at such a childish show of denial; as reported over the HyperNet when it came to those few Terran-born girls who had endured such over the years, this was quite normal for soul-swapping cases as the mind adjusted to the incredible deluge of sensations the new body forced on it. "N-n-no! I would never question Mistress, Tirtha! But, still…!"

A tender kiss to the lips silenced her. "I didn't sense your _mei'na_ take flight into the Te'a when we pulled the meson crystal out of your old body, Surya," Tirtha calmly stated. "I didn't sense that happen when Shèngyī helped augment your _mei'na_ with the necessary knowledge to endure the Awakening before _satre'cha_ happened. Neither did she, nor did Wéi. This is quite normal for our people. Now please stop questioning it! Kaolla needs you!"

THAT made Surya jolt as the powerful magic from the personal oath of loyalty she had sworn years ago to the monarchy when she became the Royal Wizard surged through her. Once that had abated, she then sighed. "It's so hard, Tirtha…" she breathed out.

"Of course it's hard," Tirtha said as she guided the other woman down a side street. "It was hard for Tenna when she did her body-swap yesterday. It'll be hard for Carra, too. It'll be hard for all the women of the village as well, not to mention all the men we'll inject with the recombinant drug once we get it from the Noukiites. But it's better to do that than allow the rest of the world to just lock us up on this island and panic about the potential threat we might present to outsiders all the way to making the idiots in the ICMC unleash the Omega Directive on us! Do you want THAT?!"

The Royal Wizard paled. "The _Omega Directive_…?!" she eeped.

Tirtha gazed at her. "You KNOW how much the Europeans remember what happened during World War Two."

That made the older woman think for a moment before she sighed. "True…"

By then, both had arrived at the Sapta home, a simple two-floor dwelling that would have been seen as a nobleman's house years ago back in India. Stepping inside, both women slipped off their outer shoes and made their way into the living room. "How is she?" Tirtha then asked her group's healer, Charan Tor's twin sister Nayren.

"She's doing alright," Nayren stated as she pulled her fingers away from a lightly smiling Carra Nat. Physically, she looked almost exactly like Charan save for her not wearing glasses and having hair that went to mid-back; she normally wore that in a high ponytail. She also wasn't pregnant as she wanted to hold off on children for the time being. She was a fully-trained and licensed registered nurse, having apprenticed at the Royal Hospital in Molmol City after getting her degree from the Royal University; she and her sister had been created as children for an elderly fisherman's widow who wanted children of her own…and had — to the day of her death four years ago — seen Nayren and Charan as literal gifts from Allāh Himself. Nayren was currently lovers with the village doctor, a woman in her early thirties named Kirsha Pahl. Tirtha's quest to get replacement bodies for the native women of Kasi would have the doctor undergo a body-swap as soon as possible…and that wasn't just to ensure that the _marei'cha_ urge Nayren felt for Kirsha could be properly reciprocated so they could get started on raising a family of their own. "The Awakening didn't really bother her. She's already gone through all the basic spell drills she was taught to review every time she was laid up in hospital for a while. Unfortunately, she can't do a self-examination for the Neuwied Test…"

"It's alright, Nayren. I can do that," Surya said before gesturing with her hand.

A ghostly parchment soon appeared over Carra's head. "Three hundred and forty-two points," the Royal Wizard then declared, eliciting a shocked gasp from her current apprentice. "What was the score you were given back at Dejima, Carra?"

"Only 152 points, Mistress," the younger witch stated as the parchment faded away. "I can't believe that my magic improved _**that**_ much! Here, let me…"

With her wand, she did the necessary detection spells. A moment later, a parchment with the number **464** appeared over Surya's head. "Oh, Allāh!" Carra breathed out in awe before she reported what the actual number was to the Royal Wizard, and then she added, "Mistress Tsukiko scored an even 500 points on that test! What was…?!"

A chuckle responded. "I honestly can't answer that, Carra," Surya stated with a shrug. "I never trusted that test in the first place, so I never was tested."

That made Carra blink. "Why not?! Everyone else does it!"

Surya sighed. "I think that's part of the problem we've been experiencing here since our ancestors started being affected by the ebony meson in the mountains. I recall that Tenna did her potions mastery thesis when she was at Salem on meson and its effects on people. I think we'll need to get her back here — once the Princess has decided on her future, of course — to do an analysis of the people on the island to see what's happened and why."

"So you won't force her to marry Lamba?" Tirtha asked.

The older witch sighed. "No, I would never think of forcing the Princess to do anything, especially with the plan to make her an Avalonian and how that'll end up changing her life. She might up getting her own bond-mate from one of the Avalonians in Hinata for all we know." She then shrugged. "Still, the King did promise her, Tirtha…"

"True, he did. But she was too young to understand what it really meant. And she was still hurting over losing her parents." Tirtha sighed. "And now we have the issue about her attraction to Lady Taeko's brother Keitarō to worry about, especially with his being bonded to his new fiancée. He's not Muslim and there're the age difference issues to worry about, let alone what she's done to him over the last year…"

"She only wanted to play with him, Tirtha!" Carra protested.

Tirtha tried not to groan. _Dear Lyna! Can't people_ see _what was_ **wrong** _with what Kaolla did to the poor man?!_ "Playing with Keitarō would have entailed their going out to explore all the hidden places on the Hinata-sō grounds, Carra. Like those tunnels under the Hinata-sō where she hid all her equipment and those gynoid replicas of hers. Or going to the beach to swim in the ocean or play beach volleyball. I personally don't call being kicked in the head with the force of a thrown fastball every morning — to say anything of his being shot at by missiles! — 'playing!' Would you like that?!"

That made the young witch jolt…before she deflated. "Well…!"

"We all have to look at what we see as 'right' and 'wrong' through new lenses from this point on, Carra," Surya advised before she yawned. "Oh, my…I'm tired!"

"Naturally," Nayren stated. "You've been through a very shocking transformation, Surya. Your new body pumped out a lot of adrenaline after you awoke in it, so you're suffering from adrenaline fatigue now. Tirtha, I want you to give her some intimate therapy to help her rest and adjust. I'll take Carra over to my place for the time being."

Carra blinked. "Um, Nayren…what about…?"

The nurse winked. "She'll be joining us very soon. Let's go."

With that, an embarrassed, stuttering witch and a grinning nurse vacated Tirtha's home. Watching them go, Surya sighed as she moved to take the sari off her head to expose her bright red hair. "That is so strange," she admitted as Tirtha headed into the kitchen to prepare some tea for both of them. "You actually look on _**sex**_ as a form of therapy?"

"Of course," Tirtha replied as she slipped off her own sari, hanging it over a chair before she moved to heat some water. "We're a psychic species, Surya. Every time we touch another person's mind in a completely voluntary way, it gives us great pleasure. You probably learned this back in Dejima and when you were fighting with Lady Tsukiko during the Greater East Asia War. When people feel happiness or joy, they actually heal much more quickly from any sort of physical or emotional wound. Intimate therapy is just a logical extension of that concept." She then gave the older woman a knowing look. "Besides, you probably had a girlfriend or two at Dejima or out in the field. You magicals accepted that sort of thing long before the normal people of Earth began to accept that."

A soft chuckle answered her. "Yes, that's true. But to be honest…!" Here, the Royal Wizard blushed. "I had a deep crush on Mistress for the longest time. Yes, she's old enough to be my mother, but she's been literally frozen in time since she had her first encounter with meson after meeting Master Hosan for the first time in the 1890s. And she saw things so clearly in comparison to the other people who led Japan into the Greater East Asia War. Who wouldn't be attracted to someone like that?"

"Well, maybe one of our sisters down in Nagasaki might try to get close to her. Or perhaps you might get a chance to be with her while you're staying in Japan at the Hinata House; she'll definitely be coming by periodically to look in on Kaolla as she promised Lamba she would," the Elder Mother of Molmol mused as she brought out some cut pieces of milk chocolate from the refrigerator. Walking over to offer the plate to her guest, she added, "It's not right that someone who did so much good should live her life totally alone."

Surya's eyes twinkled with delight as she took up a couple pieces to allow them to melt in her mouth. "Oh, Allāh!" she moaned out as that sweet goodness danced over her taste buds. "That's some of your mother's chocolate, isn't it?"

"I have about five metric tonnes of the stuff stored in the basement, all in special preservation units to keep them fresh from the heat," Tirtha stated, which made her guest shudder in anticipation of getting MORE of such heavenly sweets. "Never got the hang of making this stuff myself, but Mother wasn't bothered by that. Once she taught herself how to make the chocolate, it always made her happy to prepare it for people who wanted something to snack on." She then picked up a piece to nibble on it as she moved to monitor the tea. "I'm sure if we get more sisters down here, one might learn how to do it."

The older woman nodded as she sat down at the dining room table. She then gazed on one wall, which had a beautiful portrait of Tirtha and her mother in formal clothing hanging in a place of prominence. The portrait was an indoors one, which showed both Tirtha and Videshii with their heads bared. "I can barely see the tip of your mother's ears in this picture," she noted as the tea kettle whistled. "It's so hard to believe that one of the most popular people on Molmol in recent years was an _**alien**_! I just…"

"Not even you magicals were supposed to pick up on it," her host admitted as she put tea bags into cups, then poured the hot water into them. "Then again, it was quite easy for Mother's people to insert themselves on Earth to observe what was happening here. Remember, they may not have been able to create…but they were able to _replicate_ to such a degree that no one could tell the difference. That included how to speak the local language and how to behave in any situation; that was long ingrained into all their ancestors so they could avoid all the predators that ran rampant on Phentax Two in prehistoric times." She then sighed. "When you're confronted with something like that, you barely if ever would notice anything like how a person's ears are shaped. Especially if the hair was combed right to obscure the tips."

"Why did they do that?"

"Because by the time Mother's generation were born, they simply knew no other way…and their leaders wouldn't let them explore any other way," Tirtha stated as she came over with the tea. Placing the cups down, she moved to get milk and sugar. "In a way, being assigned to Earth was a relief for many of the people sent here. Yes, they had to spy on people — and they used us to learn every secret that people had regardless of how those people might have felt about such things — but they were practically free to do whatever they wanted within the bounds of reason. Here on Earth, they didn't have to put up to preachers of the 'church of the day' slamming them repeatedly with sermons on how to behave and what was good and what was evil and all that insane nonsense. If you think the fundamentalists who fight for that idiot bin Lādin and his friends in Pakistan and Afghanistan are fanatics, they've got nothing on some of the 'learned masters' back on Phentax Two!" She shook her head as she placed the milk and sugar down before sitting next to her guest. As Surya put a couple teaspoons of sugar and a dash of milk in her tea, Tirtha sighed. "So this was a place where people like Mother could come and be as free as they could be, live their lives as free as they could — within reason, of course — and learn many things they couldn't learn back home. Like Mother did with me and all my sisters. Even if many of them were effectively adopted by local couples to allow their identities to be better established, Mother always looked on all of us as a group as her own children."

Surya nodded. "So what happens now? If what I've seen on NHK is any indication, when the Earth Angel and her family liberated your people, they effectively crippled your mother's race in a way they'll need a _**century**_ to recover from. The one race that's an enemy of this Galactic Federation that the Oni lead — the Ipraedies, they're called? — won't give them that sort of chance according to the Men In Black in New York City."

"Personally, I loved my mother dearly. I miss her a lot. But my mother's people needed to have this happen to them," Tirtha admitted with a sigh as she sipped her tea; she took hers black and unsweetened. "This was the big thing Elder Ganzo feared so much when his friends found a way to subvert us to Niphentaxian control with that DNA loyalty lock." As the older woman scowled on hearing that — that term reminded her too much of the magical loyalty lock stones that had been a primary target of Yomigawa Tsukiko's allies in Europe, the destruction of which having helped her so much in the War of Liberation; to this day, she still had nightmares on how those invasive spells had badly warped the lives of millions in places like India, southeast Asia and modern-day Indonesia — her host added, "The ready availability of Avalonian labour ultimately made the Niphentaxians too lazy, especially on Phentax Two and in the Navy. We became the artisans and technicians who made sure the machinery of government and the military ran smoothly. It came to the point where the knowledge to build things like the space factories now up in orbit was completely _**lost**_ amongst our masters."

She shook her head. "Try as he might, Elder Ganzo just couldn't make people budge when it came to how fast their society was going nowhere. So he did something really drastic twenty-five years ago: He hunted down the people who programmed the main production computers of the bioroid factory to insert the DNA loyalty locks into all of us and tortured them for those secrets, then killed them. Once the 'powers that be' learned what he did and realized he now had the key knowledge necessary to free us all, they declared him the 'Arch-Heretic,' put a million uniCredit price on his head to ensure he couldn't get help anywhere in the local cluster and made him run for his life." She then chuckled. "Of course, he took ten thousand non-templated bodies with him. Once he got to Noukiite space and was granted asylum on Okusei, he soon found out that there were _**thousands**_ of trapped souls in meson crystals dating from the Tri-Kingdoms period of that planet's history — from three to two thousand years ago — all over Noukiios itself. Almost all of them were female, members of the old Flower Youth sub-caste of the Guardian Order. So he got them, got samples of their original bodies' DNA — whenever he could find them — and brought them all back to life as ten year-old children, allowing them to be adopted by barren couples on Noukiios and some of her colonies so they could have new lives for themselves. After that, it was just a matter of time before someone finally decided to move in on Phentax Twelve to free the rest of us."

Her guest hummed. "That red-haired Noukiite woman who was on the news with the Earth Angel…"

"Seu-P'ye Yesu-Re Hechnich'-K'ekhech of Ait'uch-Nehech," Tirtha supplied. "Birth-name was Eyu-P'ye Yesu-Kyech. The Dragonspeaker of the Tri-Kingdoms. Blessed with the blood of the Sky Lord Nengmek'i, the oldest living spirit-dragon on Noukiios; they met when they were children and the Lady K'ekhech saved Lord Nengmek'i from bullies when he disguised himself in human form to explore her home village. Thanks to that, she is now blessed with power that could give her even odds in a fight against a Jewel Warrior like Major Raeburn." As Surya whistled on hearing that, the younger woman smiled. "A simple woman deep down — that's according to her biography on the HyperNet — but one never to be angered. And ever since she woke up to her true capabilities — believe me, the blood of a ch'uokyek goes VERY well with Avalonian DNA — she's often loaned her power and skill to help defend other worlds, even Phentax Two, from any rampaging heel from Yiziba." At the other woman's curious look, Tirtha smiled. "That's where Major Raeburn's Power Jewel was forged three billion years ago. A race of metahumans lives there now; they're actually genetically descent from Earth but were transplanted to Yiziba ages ago by some unknown race." She then chuckled as she added, "You can't even say the _name_ of the planet or the people in front of any Oni or Niphentaxian or most anyone else in the local cluster without their having a panic attack over it. Just like the way idiots in Britain always were too scared to say Thoughtmaster-prime Tom Riddle's chosen battle name."

Here, the older woman shuddered. "Oh, please! Enough, Tirtha! Learning all this…!" She then chuckled. "And I thought magic was complex?! That's _nothing_ compared to what your people ultimately represent. It wouldn't surprise me if you'll run into cases of xenophobia in certain circles here on Earth even if most of the leaders of the world welcome you with open arms." She then sighed. "Maybe here in Molmol as well. I hope you're prepared to move everyone out of here real quick if that happens."

Her host nodded. "Yes, I'm prepared. I'd hate it — I love this island and the people here despite the problems the ebony meson unleashed — but I'll do it if I have to do it. That's my responsibility as Elder Mother." She then smirked. "Then again, I doubt it'll go that far…even if idiots like Panda Gan rail against our being here if he ever learns the truth." At Surya's curious look, Tirtha smirked as she gave her guest a wink. "We'll be making Kaolla one of us within a few days. In some people's eyes, that could be seen as taking her 'hostage' to make the government conform to whatever demands we make of them."

"Would you do that?"

"No," Tirtha stated with an emphatic shake of her head. "I'm doing this to _**save**_ people, not _hurt_ them. Especially Kaolla. She's my daughter in all but name, Surya! I'll see her safe no matter what."

Surya smiled on hearing that. She then paused for a moment before she leaned over to gently kiss her host on the lips. Immediately, Tirtha responded as she reached over to draw the older woman into her arms. After a minute of passionate lip-lock, both women gently pulled apart before they smiled.

"Let's get out of these clothes and be comfortable," Tirtha whispered.

The other woman nodded as they both stood up…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) I learned of the **Mage Sight** concept from the _Drunkard's Walk_ metaseries of stories written by **Robert M. Schroeck**, though he probably got the concept from the various role-playing games he writes for. This particular power allows magicals a chance to peer intently at any particular object of interest to ascertain what it actually is and if it has any sort of magical capability. _DW_ is one of my favourite stories and can be found with a quick Google search under the phrase "Access Denied!"

2) Translations: **Satre'cha** — Literally "the passing-on back" and normally translated as "the re-fusion," this is the process where a person's soul is restored to his/her original body or to a clone replacement body, similar to the process done to Spock in _Star Trek III: The Search For Spock_; **Bakechō** — Literally "reformed transfer"; **Kenchū** — Modest Heart; **Senkō** — Clear Light; **Nisei** — A person of Japanese descent who was born in another country from migrants who moved there directly from Japan; **Tenmon-jinja** — Shrine of the Gate of Heaven.

3) **Imai Mutsuo** was killed in the _Sanctuary_ manga story "The Prime Minister" (manga episode #35). As stated before, the battle between the **Kantō Takeyama-kai** and the **Tōnihon Dōmon-kai** was effectively ended in the manga story "The Ties That Bind" (manga episode #40); the formal alliance between the former group and the Kantō Sagara-kai was announced in the following story, "Resolution."

4) The concept of the **Nightmare** — a jet-black mystical horse whose hooves sparked when they struck solid ground and manes that seemed to literally burn with magical fire — was first introduced to me via the _Harry Potter_ fanfic story _Lord of Caer Azkaban_, written by **Rorschach's Blot**; it is marked as one of my favourites here at the website. Their actually being native to Siberia is my invention; in the universe of this story, **Azkaban Island** — located in the North Sea near the Shetlands — is nowhere near large enough to sustain any form of life before the Dementors began to reside there prior to the formal establishment of **Her Majesty's Prison Azkaban** in the early 1700s.

5) While the magical strength and invulnerability of the **Sword of Gryffindor** was amply demonstrated in both _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_ and _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_, it was never shown to be able to deflect the power of the Killing Curse. So whether or not it could do as Yomigawa Tsukiko's meson-forged katana **Senkō** did remains unproven; as shown in Part Two of _Wizards and Avalonians_, the Sword of Gryffindor was returned to the goblins of Gringotts in a prequel to **Death Eater Season**, the no holds barred blitzkrieg-like war launched by Harry Potter and his allies against the Death Eaters that led up to the Battle of Hogwarts near the end of the summer of 1997.

As an aside, the story of the **Schwarze Mädchen** ("Black Maidens") who fought for **Gellert Grindelwald** in World War Two will be further expanded on in a future part of _Wizards and Avalonians_.

6) _Bockscar_ — the name is written always as one word — was a specially modified **Boeing B-29 Superfortress** heavy bomber (aircraft serial number **44-27297**) that was assigned to the **393rd Bombardment Squadron** (today known as the **393rd Bomb Squadron** [**393 BS**]) of the **509th Composite Group** (today the operational element of the **509th Bomb Wing** [**509 BW**]) for atomic bomb missions in April 1945. A sister aircraft to the better-known _Enola Gay_ (aircraft serial number **44-86292**) that flew **Special Mission 13** to Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, _Bockscar_ was piloted by then-Major **Charles W. Sweeney** (1919-2004) on **Special Mission 16** three days later. The original target for the **Fat Man** plutonium-powered atomic bomb carried by _Bockscar_ was **Kokura** (today part of **Kitakyūshū** ["North Kyūshū"]) on the south shore of the Kanmon Straits separating that island from Honshū. Very overcast skies over Kokura forced Sweeney to take his aircraft on to the secondary target, Nagasaki. Because of the same type of weather and because _Bockscar_ was running very low on fuel due to an on-board malfunction with the fuel transfer systems, Sweeney's bombardier Captain **Kermit K. Beahan** (1918-89) was effectively forced to drop Fat Man three kilometres northwest of the planned aiming point, which guaranteed that most of the damage done to Nagasaki was concentrated in the northern end, well away from Dejima at the head of Nagasaki Bay.

After _Bockscar_ was taken out of service in September 1946, the aircraft was turned over to the control of the **National Museum of the United States Air Force** and flown to its permanent home at **Wright-Patterson Air Force Base** near Dayton in Ohio on 26 September 1961, where it was restored to the same condition it was in after it was used on Special Mission 16.

7) The "idiot therianthropes" Tsukiko thinks of here are the **Musk** (I give them the proper Mandarin-sounding name **Màshǐké**), who first appeared in the _Ranma 1/2_ manga story "The Guest At the Cat Café" (manga episode #246). The "locking ladle" they possess is, of course, the **Zhǐshuǐtǒng** (known to most _Ranma_ fans by the Japanese translation of the term, "Chiisuiton") that was used by **Herb** to temporarily freeze **Saotome Ranma** as a girl during that storyline. As I noted in the writer's notes of Part 1 of _Phoenix From the Ashes_, I always write place names and terms based on objects from China by the proper Mandarin or Cantonese readings such as **Nǚjiézú** in lieu of "Joketsuzoku."

8) **Arjumand Banu** is the birth name of the famous Mughal Dynasty queen Mumtaz Mahal (first noted on in Part Seven).


	12. A Sanctuary for All

Hinata, the Hinata-sō, lunchtime…

"I see the reconstruction is progressing quite well."

Hearing that toneless voice, Urashima Taeko smiled as she waved Moroboshi Negako over to sit beside her. The new landlady was now relaxing in a lawn chair she had found in one of the storage rooms on the first floor of the south wing; she had moved that, another chair and a table equipped with a wide parasol to a place near the rolling cliff that flowed down towards the Wafū Chabō Hinata south of the kitchen and dining hall building. That was now almost totally gone, as was most of the south wing of the main building; construction labors whose pilots were under the command of Tanya Lipińsky were busy tearing apart the frames of each section after portable materialiser units were used to take out reusable materials such as panelling, floorboards and the like so they could be recycled into the new structure once it was erected.

A small tent village had been set up to the east and north of the kitchen between the Hinata-sō and Hinata Creek; this was where people who hadn't permanently moved into the new cottages on the north side of the creek would reside for the next couple of days as the whole south wing of the Hinata-sō was rebuilt. Other construction labors and their pilots were busy off to the southwest of the south wing, in the area next to the annex hall and the small building beside it that had been used for laundry facilities and Keitarō's private bathing area. Currently under the control of Tamara Su and Maehara Makiko, they were tearing up the parking lot and driveway to the make way for a new "southwest wing" that would be mated to the south wing in a squared "S" formation to allow two hundred new tenants to live there. This would also incorporate convenient bathing facilities around newly-excavated hot springs, an earthquake-proof nuclear fusion power plant to completely support the Hinata-sō's expanded energy needs separate from the city power grid, recreation areas and a garage for people like Mizote Toshiko and her new lover Kadō Nami — they had yet to bond, but according to Yamamoto Eriko, such could probably come soon — to store their motorcycles…not to mention a few hovercycles that could be used for aerial hops around town.

"Yes, it is," Taeko stated. "Tanya-ya's people are quite efficient. She expects the main construction work for the south wing will be finished by sundown today, with the detailed work done by midday tomorrow. I won't have anyone move back in until Wednesday, though; that's when the north wing and the southwest wing will be finished so that people won't be distracted by all the noise." She sipped the tea that Maehara Shinobu had prepared for her; one of the restaurants in town had gladly loaned the young cook a yatai so that she could keep people fed until everything in the refurbished kitchen wing was finished. The day was cool but not uncomfortably so, with forecasts for the next few days predicting that temperatures would only drop to just above the freezing mark during the evenings. Fortunately, the tents that had been supplied from Space Factory #319 for the occasion all came equipped with internal heating units to make sure the people forced to live inside them were comfortable; they had been units designed for use by Niphentaxian Union Marines when they were out in the field. "She's even found ways to turn that pond that was in the middle of the main building into a proper hot spring; once it's covered over, there'll be a place for people to bathe and relax in case of inclement weather."

"You are adjusting well to what Keitarō desires of you," Negako noted.

"As are you with Ataru-ya," Taeko teased as she gazed on the other woman.

A tired sigh answered her. "Being still bonded to Ataru — and by extension Tariko and Hiromi — is the ultimate price I had to pay so the magic of the Promise would keep me alive until someone discovered the means to allow me to live my own life as my own person," the ninjutsu grandmaster said. "I accepted it then; given how determined — even desperate — my so-called 'masters' were in keeping me under their control, it was either agree or they would continued to seek ways to render me effectively dead." As the former tokkaebi scowled on hearing that, Negako shook her head. "Do not concern yourself with such things, Taeko. Their spirits will soon be drawn back from the Te'a once their mortal remains are removed from their family graves and destroyed. With arrangements I made with others, they will be handed over to a demon Ataru encountered some months ago named Velial in repayment of his losing a collection of souls after he tried to seize Ataru's after he made the proper invocations to receive a small bout of good luck." She smirked as she remembered that particular incident. "An interesting level of ki was collected in that particular episode."

"A DEMON?!"

Negako gazed tranquilly at a wide-eyed Shinobu, who had come over with some drinks and snacks when she noticed the ninjutsu grandmaster approach Taeko. "Do not be concerned for the safety of your soul, Shinobu. Beings such as Velial will not harm you with Taeko and Maria living here."

Hearing that, the middle school freshman breathed out in relief before she came over to place the tray down on the table between the two older women. "Well, that's good!" she confessed as she moved to prepare a cup of tea. "After all we've been through down here, that's what we ultimately DON'T need to hang over our heads."

"You are undisturbed by Taeko's and Maria's presences in your life?" Negako asked.

A shake of the head answered her. "No. Sempai gets a sister in Taeko-sempai and Maria-sempai is Taeko-sempai's friend. Maybe even more." Shinobu then jerked on hearing Taeko nearly choke. As Negako reached over to jab two fingers into the other woman's spine to make sure the tea she had been drinking went down the right way, Shinobu flustered. "Sorry about that, Sempai," she apologized. "But you have to admit, given that you're a tokkaebi and Maria-sempai is a tsukumogami…"

"And you are both friends," Negako added.

Taeko's cheeks were now a fine shade of red. "I've never cared for that sort of thing, Sŏnbae-nim!" she protested, ignoring the warning look from Negako. "Besides, Maria-ya was formed in the shape of a child! She needs time to adjust! She…!"

"Calm yourself, Taeko," Negako stated. "Shinobu simply desires that you enjoy the same warm relationship with a potential bond-mate that Keitarō now enjoys with Karumi and she does with Moe. Besides, you are now in an Avalonian body. You will be subjected to _**all**_ the demands that body forces on you, including the urge to seek out a bond-mate. As will Maria. As will I," she added before sipping her tea. "Most likely with Kaga."

Shinobu gazed wide-eyed at the ninjutsu grandmaster. "You were actually lovers with Kaga-san?!"

"I was," Negako affirmed as she tranquilly gazed on the younger girl. "When I was within the subconscious mind of Ataru's great-granduncle Tsugaru, I was assigned by Emperor Yoshihito in 1919 to covertly monitor the development of the Steel Angels as spearheaded by the Academy of Advanced Sciences under Ayanokōji Hakushi's leadership. Kaga was one of the first to emerge from those initial studies, as were people like Ōta Diana. We met and she became fascinated by the fact that I — as a fellow artificial intelligence — had developed in the way I did. Over time, she became attracted to me; despite the fact that Steel Angels were denied the right to bear their own offspring, they had the same range of human feelings as their creators. Eventually, I reciprocated her feelings; Tsugaru even encouraged me to do so…at the ultimate cost of his life in 1938 as I spent too much time in control of his body whenever I was close to Kaga." She frowned on remembering that. "Tsugaru did not mind such; he felt it was the right thing to do."

"I'm surprised she didn't try to persuade you to become like her," Taeko mused. "I recall their Angel Hearts were all made of meson."

"She did try on several occasions…but I did not desire to be subjected to the programmed loyalty lock Kaga and her sisters were always forced into," Negako affirmed. "It amazes me that Kaolla had the necessary strength and control over her psychokinetic powers to ensure Tamara and Makiko do not have to concern themselves with such things. She will be quite an interesting student once she is allowed to become an Avalonian."

Shinobu sighed. "She still has to apologize."

"Shinobu, I told you what was wrong with her," Negako stated.

"I know! I know!" the younger girl snapped. "But doesn't learning what she did wrong include admitting to her past mistakes? With both Sempai AND myself?! I can understand her wanting to have something of her mother with her! I miss my grandmother very much. And maybe if she had ASKED me if she could do that for me, I might have said 'yes.' But she never asked me at all! She needs to understand that!" She then moved to serve the snacks she had made. "Atop that, there were all the times she swiped food that I had made for all the others because she was hungry. Never even ASKING me if she could have that food! Never once even considering that there were four other people living in the building that might want to eat; five people after Sempai came to be the dorm manager." She shook her head. "That stupid, selfish girl…and she's supposed to be the next QUEEN of her people?!" A snort escaped her. "I wouldn't want that!"

"Do not overtly concern yourself with Kaolla's lack of maturity, Shinobu," Negako stated. "Taeko can ensure that she has no access to the kitchen. Atop that, she will be watched over by Tirtha and Tenna as well as Surya and Carra when they come here with her on Wednesday." She then lightly smiled. "Besides, I believe Keitarō will punish her far more effectively than anything Tirtha might do, much less Taeko."

That made Shinobu blink. "How?"

"By _**ignoring**_ her," the ninjutsu grandmaster stated. "That is the one thing a child that is desperate for attention loathes above all else. With Keitarō living with Karumi in the new cottages on the other side of Hinata Creek — and with those dwellings now sealed off both magically and technologically from unwanted access — Kaolla will have no means to directly approach him. She will not have the means to deploy weapons against him as such will not be allowed within the walls of the Hinata-sō by Taeko. All the tunnels under the building will be fully sealed off and buried by Tanya and her co-workers; that will prevent Kaolla from hiding weapons or other equipment she builds here from Tirtha's and Taeko's attention. Furthermore, the truth of what she is will soon be spread across Hinata Middle School by your peers and yourself: She is an immature child princess from a country that does NOT enjoy diplomatic recognition by the Japanese government, thus is NOT protected by the laws of diplomatic immunity. Her peers there will be glad to take advantage of that if she elects to misbehave. Did not your friend Arai Kiyomi strike Kaolla down when she tried to play with you and your group one time?"

Shinobu giggled. "Yeah, Kiyomi-chan did!"

"What did I do?!"

Everyone turned. "Ah! Come join us, everyone!" Taeko bade as Shinobu's friends from Hinata Middle School came up from the direction of the Wafū Chabō Hinata.

"We're sorry to disturb you, Taeko-sempai, Negako-sensei," Katō Mika said as they bowed respectfully to them. "But seeing as how we got the day off from juku…"

"There is no need to call me 'sensei,' Mika," Negako stated as she gazed on the brown-eyed girl with the square-cut brown hair. "So you have made a decision, have you not?"

Shinobu's friends all gaped. "Wow! How could you tell that, Sen-…! Um, Negako-san?!" Shimura Mami exclaimed after dropping her box of Pocky.

Negako picked it off the ground before handing it back. "You all are radiating — in your ki and your emotions — a considerable amount of both anticipation and trepidation. You also are afraid that once Shinobu undergoes her own body replacement and bonds with Moe, you will lose them both as friends. While I personally would state that such might not happen given how much Shinobu and Moe both care for all of you, it is ultimately your decision…though it is clearly obvious that your parents have been informed of such and they have given their approval for you to undergo such, correct?"

That made all five girls blush as Taeko giggled and Shinobu smirked. "We have to do it, Negako-san," Arai Kiyomi then stated, shrugging. "We said we'd stick together with Shinobu-chan even after everyone in class decided they didn't want anything to do with her after her parents broke up and she wanted to be left alone…so why the heck can't we become Avalonians after she becomes one and bonds with Moe-chan?"

"'Sides, she texted us and told us that creep Su's gonna be one because of all the problems she has," Mika added. "After hearing about what Su did to her in waking up that Steel Angel that's named after Shinobu-chan's grandma, you gotta wonder what that selfish idiot'll do next! Look what she always did to Keitarō-sempai!"

"Minna…" Shinobu whispered as her eyes teared.

"Well, since you all seem determined to do it, let's get over to the north wing and get this done right now," Taeko stated as she set her tea cup aside before standing up. "Tanya-ya won't get at it with her labors until tomorrow at the earliest, so we won't have to worry about moving the remaining non-templated bodies around anytime soon. Once that's done, you'll spend some time in the hot springs to relax yourselves before having your first meal as Avalonians. After that, you can call your parents and ask them if you can stay here overnight with Shinobu-ya and Moe-ya."

The girls all cheered on hearing that as Negako smiled…

* * *

Meanwhile, on the north side of the Hinata-sō property…

"So it's done," Keitarō breathed out.

Karumi nodded as she finished affixing the sign over the north side of the stone pagoda gate that had been placed on the borderline between the Hinata-sō property and the property of the old Ōgusu Hotel; this would serve as one of the three main entrances into the Hinata Creek Cottage grounds. The gentle waters of the creek in question flowed behind the newly-named gate — it was called **KŌJINSHIMON** in tribute to the great eastern gate of Sŏul — in an east-to-west direction before emptying into a small pool midway down the west slope of Ōgusu-yama which was warmed up by nearby hot springs in a situation similar to the famous Whirlpool Rapids on the Niagara River below the legendary falls; from there, the waters of the creek flowed southeast past the Hinata-sō towards Ōgusu-jinja. Because of this, Hinata Creek made a natural border for the property surrounding the cottages that had been erected on the site of the old Forbidden Annex and the grounds around it…though given the propensity for three certain residents of the Hinata-sō to stick their noses where they didn't belong, the shoreline of the creek facing away from the cottages would be totally walled in and magically shielded to keep them outside.

While Keitarō personally suspected that Narusegawa Naru would get the hint right away and back off from bothering him, he knew neither Aoyama Motoko nor Kaolla Su would like being locked out of any place the former manager of the Hinata-sō happened to be…especially since he would be sharing a cottage with his fiancée and would be close neighbours to all of his would-be girlfriends; they had all elected to live in the neighbouring cottages. To someone like Motoko, the very idea of a "vile, spineless male" like Keitarō being close to such beautiful women — and women who would gladly give themselves to him sexually! — would simply drive her up the wall…and after she failed to breach the wards around the cottages several times, would ultimately make her realize that her androphobic attitudes had no place here at the Hinata-sō anymore. As for Kaolla, being prevented from "playing" with her Onii-chan would hurt her badly…and maybe teach her some necessary self-discipline.

He doubted it.

His fiancée doubted it even more.

Both knew it wasn't going to be pretty.

Too bad.

"Yeah, it's done," the Kyoshō alumnus said before she climbed down the ladder that had been provided to her by Tsutsumi Makoto. "Now we've got a nice place to live in and be safe from all the idiots out there that might hurt us."

"Would tōshi from other schools come down this way?" the bank clerk asked.

"I think so," Karumi answered as she helped Makoto move to carry the ladder across the new stone bridge that allowed people to cross the creek and through Kōjinshimon to head out onto the Ōgusu Hotel grounds and the houses in the northern part of Hinata close to the border with Hayama. The others — Akae Ayako had blessed the gate before Karumi had put up the sign to officially name it — followed them to a small storage shed placed near the cliff overlooking the small pool where the Hinata Creek veered southeast. "I'm an A-rank tōshi out here by my lonesome well away from Ninomiya; that alone will attract some interest even if this is kind of an out of the way place for someone like me to live. The real smart ones will probably have things checked out with friends — spies, not to mince words — inside Kyoshō to learn who I am before doing anything. Once they click in that I've graduated from high school — thus effectively out of the game — they'll back off and leave me be. The ones who try not to let the Fate bother them so much might want to take me on just for the exercise and the chance to spar with someone like me before they face the Great Fighters Tournament coming up later this summer. It's the really dumb ones — the idiots who just love to fight for the joy of maiming people or who let the Fate totally rule their lives — we have to watch out for."

The others all frowned save for Keitarō; given his bond with his fiancée, he knew how confident Karumi was when it came to dealing with other tōshi. "How could you people just live like that?" Scarlett Ryan demanded as Makoto opened the shed door so Karumi could put the ladder away. "This isn't China eighteen centuries ago!"

"A lot of people've asked that question again and again over the years, Letta," Karumi admitted as she stepped out, moving aside so Makoto could close the door. "We ain't ever got an answer that could satisfy us." She then sighed as she slipped her arm around Keitarō's as they walked down to the cottage the newly-engaged couple now shared. "Never really sat back to think about it myself when I was in school. Yeah, when I was in school, I took out a whole bunch of folks from Seito in a replay of what happened to my past-self when he helped conquer Shǔ Hàn…but it never was as bad as some people think it is. Now…" She blinked as something came to her. "'S funny…I haven't had nightmares."

"Nightmares?" Kidō Nanako asked as she reached for her tricorder; now that she was out in the open, the nursing volunteer at Hinata General Hospital — who would soon be tested to be advanced to nursing trainee as a way to properly welcome her as a registered nurse there — carried a small field medical kit with her at all times.

"Yeah. We all get them to one extent or another. Dreams about what our past-selves went through back in China all those years ago. But me…" Karumi shook her head. "Ever since I woke up in this body, I haven't had any nightmares. I can recall all those events in my first life with ease, but it doesn't haunt my dreams."

"Maybe because you're too exhausted from all the sex you've had with Keitarō-kun!" Okada Shinobu gently teased as her golden-brown eyes twinkled with mirth.

The others all laughed as they walked into Keitarō's and Karumi's new home. A cozy single-floor dwelling, it had a living room, kitchenette with all the modern amenities one could ask for, private bathroom with shower stall and bedroom. It was set on the west side of the site of the Forbidden Annex, with the cabin now being shared between Yamamoto Eriko and Kudō Kana on the east side and the cabin shared between Tsutsumi Makoto and Okada Shinobu on the north side just up the hill a bit towards the remnants of a cliff whose collapse during the 13 January 1945 Mikawa earthquake effectively ensured that the Annex would never be open to the public again. Dividing the three cabins was a small hot springs pool that was shielded from outside view by newly-planted trees on the north shore of Hinata Creek, all moved from the grounds south of the creek to make way for the expanded south wing of the Hinata-sō; the hot springs were supplied thanks to drilled pipes leading from underlying pools of lava-heated water buried deep within Ōgusu-yama. Keitarō had to grin at the thoughtfulness Kana put into designing his new home; this was worlds better than being forced to use a wooden tub on the roof of the small laundry building to the west of his old bedroom. And while most of the people who would be living inside the Hinata-sō — the building would effectively serve as the new dorm house for those of the Hinata Avalonians who were still attending school, even girls like Ogasawara Iori who would graduate in a month's time — wouldn't care at all about sharing the place with a man, there were two of the original tenants to worry about.

"They got what they fuckin' always wanted," Karumi stated as she moved to warm up some tea as people relaxed in the living room; given all their desires to eventually bed their shared boyfriend to have children, the older Avalonians had made damn sure that Keitarō could host all thirteen of them with comfort. "If they don't like it, Taeko-sama can show them the fuckin' front door. People ought to be careful about what they fuckin' wish for." She then giggled. "'Sides, that's the way tokkaebi always work! They always make damn sure you get what you deserve if you piss 'em off!"

"Maybe we should just let you go up there and scare the crap out of all three of them before they come down here finally, 'Rumi," Scarlett noted as she came over to prepare cups for everyone. "Just to drive the damned point home."

"Just to Aoyama-san and Konno-san," Keitarō cautioned. "Maybe not Narusegawa-san…" He then sighed.

The others all gazed on him. "It's alright to still have feelings for Naru-san, Keitarō-kun," Kana noted. "She did help you a lot in your studies over the last year. Yes, she has a problem with her temper, but she's a very bright girl underneath it all."

"That's true," Makoto added. "She did want to push herself on you a couple times after Toshiko sent her to the hospital…but once she finally got the hint that you wanted to be left alone so you can spend time with us, she backed off and left you be. It was Motoko and Kaolla that kept coming at you."

"Ayako took the wind out of Motoko at least!" Toshiko noted.

The others laughed as they remembered hearing what the Shintō miko had done to the young Shinmei-ryū kendō-ka that one time. By then, Karumi and Scarlett were coming over with tea. Once people were served, they relaxed as the distant sounds of construction echoed from outside. "I never thought it would turn out like this," Eriko then noted.

"Turn out like what, Eriko?" Kana asked.

"Our being free," the elder mother of the Hinata Avalonians said as her caramel brown eyes teared. "I've always dreamt of a day I didn't have to put up with Jelina and her friends anymore — we all did — but to believe it turned out like _this_…"

"We just have to work to make sure the others coming down from space will enjoy it as well," Ayako breathed out. "There are a lot of hurt people up there."

"You can sense it, Ayako?" Karumi asked.

A shake of the head. "No, but I've read about it on the dataPADD," the miko answered. "A lot of trauma cases up there, Karumi-san. Not just of people who had been raped repeatedly by their masters and mistresses…but those like Shiina Kaoru as well. People who loved their masters and mistresses…then watched them die right before their eyes."

"Not to mention a lot of the hybrid children," Scarlett added.

"Do we let them come here?" Shinobu asked.

"Not here to the Hinata-sō," Keitarō stated. As the others gazed on him, he smiled. "Don't get me wrong. What happened to those kids was a crime equal to that of the Holocaust in Europe during World War Two. They all need support and to find ways to fully reform the bonds they had with their mothers." Finding some way to shatter the _shirei'cha_ bonds between Avalonian mothers and their hybrid children had always been a point of research with the Bioroid Production Bureau, the Niphentaxian government organization that was in direct administrative and operational control over the factory. While it had never happened — as such would kill both mother and child; the scientists of the Bureau weren't THAT foolish as doing such could potentially anger some very powerful political and religious patrons who'd want their slaves to remain alive and healthy — it had got close in many cases. While information about what the hybrids might do as a group had not yet got out over the HyperNet, it didn't take the former manager of the Hinata-sō long to realize that such people could — if something happened that might directly threaten their sense of safety — become a powder-keg with a very short fuse. "But they'll have the same rights as their mothers would if they elect to move here to Japan," he added. "There's Kaoru-sensei's daughter for example. Do we deprive Sensei of the right to live here at the Hinata-sō just because of Keiko-chan?"

"Use the other hotel properties for male hybrids," Kana proposed. "The Ōgusu and the Kōjō are on the other side of the ridge." She nodded off to the northwest. "The Mikka is on the other side of the Hinata-dōri. We can have them move there if they want and ward off the properties from people they might not want to deal with."

"That's a good idea," he affirmed with a nod. "Once Tanya-san is done with the grounds here, we'll get her to go to work on the other properties. It's pretty likely that she, Kaoru-sensei and all the girls from their village will want to live together, so we'll let them move into the new rooms here at the Hinata-sō. Once they're settled down and in place, we'll open the doors to anyone else who might want to come down."

"And we can help renovate the empty properties in town we just vacated," Makoto added. "Not to mention the other empty rooms in town. There's that incomplete apartment block that was being set up on the south side before construction stopped because of the lost tax revenues from local businesses after Hina closed down the Hinata-sō to the general public. We can get it finished and filled up right away with other people coming down from the factory."

Everyone nodded as they relaxed to enjoy their tea. "Hard to believe that we're involved in something like this," Karumi then noted.

"Why are you surprised?" Keitarō asked.

She looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"It's better to ride a wave than be drowned by it," he stated. "Don't you remember? Ataru told us that when he and his sisters came down here on Friday."

"Ah, right!" she breathed out before sipping her tea. "That's when they told us how shocked they were when the whole scale of the problem sank in…"

* * *

Tōkyō, near the National Diet Building in Chiyoda Ward, an hour later…

"A wave is coming…"

A snort escaped the lanky, tall dietman seated nearby. "Shit! There you go again, man!" Sengoku Shin'ichirō breathed out around his cigarette. "What the hell is with you and all these poetic words you always keep spouting out?!"

A chuckle answered the freshman from Hokkaidō. "Actually, I minored in Japanese literature at Tōdai," Asami Chiaki confessed as he looked away from the window of his office, located in the Second Members' Office Building just to the west of the place where Japan's bicameral legislature always met. Given that he was an independent, he had been given a lower-floor office…which, deep down, he didn't mind. He knew the instant he and Hōjō Akira had chosen their future paths in life back in high school with a final game of jan-ken-pon that it would be a hard climb to the top where he could unleash real changes. He was hungry and ambitious, not willing to simply be a yes-man to those "wiser" than he, not to mention VERY happy to do what it took to get where he was right now — his right thigh still twitched on occasion from the stab wound delivered unto him by a young man who had been selected by Tashiro Reiji as a way to win voter sympathy before the elections — and push on to where he knew he had to go. "It comes to me every once in a while. Like when Ms. Bissett came."

His friend nodded. That had actually been a great move on the part of the Lion of Roppongi, intercepting the hard-nosed Veronica Bissett and showing her the true facts of life when it came to the various imbalances of trade between Japan and America. Shin'ichirō suspected that his friend had also bedded the beautiful blonde New Yorker before she halted her trade mission to Japan in support of American automobile manufacturers; the freshman from Hokkaidō had known almost right from the start that Chiaki projected an aura that attracted women to him like bees were attracted to fresh honey. He wasn't so crass that he would ask Chiaki about it directly, even now; there was also a very private side to him that he kept close to his chest. That was alright, of course; Chiaki had the political instincts of a hungry shark and — despite his current status free of party affiliation — was determined to drive all the way to the top no matter what stood in his way. And he would go all the way, Shin'ichirō knew.

As many people knew, Asami Chiaki had three openly-stated policy goals:

His first goal was to open up immigration to Japan for natives of other nations without any unreasonable restriction as a way of forcing native workers to rediscover the drive that had rebuilt the nation after the disaster of World War Two. This also meant that the ridiculous situation concerning Zainichi Koreans and other long-term residents of the Home Islands would be finally resolved to the betterment of those descendants of forced labour who had been effectively rendered almost stateless for years, allowing people to claim Japanese citizenship without the need to alter their names to local ones as had been forced on Koreans and Taiwanese during the days prior to the Greater East Asia War. That had been partially achieved with the Avalonian Immigration Bill…and with the way so many backbenchers had dived in to support that, the wider goal was probably just another election away. _We're about to get a total of FIFTY MILLION new voters into the country if what the MIBs reported of what's going on upstairs is true_, Shin'ichirō mused, an icy smile crossing his face. _They're definitely going to support people who gave them a new home after they were forced to flee from SLAVERY of all things!_

Chiaki's second goal was to amend the Constitution to update the controversial Article Nine to conform to the realities of the modern world. Not go all the way to what the right-wing morons would gladly want to see with full re-militarization of the nation in the same fashion that allowed Japan to stumble into the insanity of the Greater East Asia War. What Shin'ichirō's friend had in mind was to force the public to finally accept that Japan DID have the _**right**_ of self-defence without the necessity of leaning on America all the time; doing such would finally put a stop to all the arguments over the legality of the Self-Defence Forces. Also, Japan — as one of the larger economic powers on the planet — had the moral _**responsibility**_ to come to the aid of friends under the aegis of the United Nations in times of trouble; this would allow troops to be deployed abroad…not to mention allow Japan to fully participate in whatever international formation would take command of fifty certain starships now in high orbit over Earth that had been built by two orphaned teenagers who had fled from being kidnapped by the Ipraedies and discovered a technological gold mine over a dead world named Den'sha Two as they tried to return home.

The final goal — and the one that would hurt the bastards who had been responsible for driving Shin'ichirō's father Tatsumi to suicide two years ago the most — was to pass another amendment to the Constitution. This one would elevate the position of Prime Minister — and by extension, members of the Cabinet he selected to serve under him — away from forcing the incumbent to be a serving member of the Diet and see him elected separately, just as the American President was elected independently of members of Congress in Washington. THAT would — while not breaking such an incumbent of any sort of party affiliation — finally allow the Prime Minister to lead his nation in whatever way s/he wanted given the mandate presented to him/her by the general electorate without the necessity of bowing all the time to various factions within one's party to maintain the necessary support to reside at the Kantei just south of the office buildings for the members of the Diet. Atop that, there would be a fixed term of office for the head of government and the elections would be kept separate from those for either house of the Diet, though there would be no term limits. This would ensure that the insane switching of prime ministers that had haunted Japanese politics — which the disruptions such actions forced on national policy — for years would be finally banished to the history books.

If that was all done…

"What is it?"

Shin'ichirō perked before he smiled. "Just wondering how this damned roller-coaster we're on now's going to finally end," he confessed. "You got a lot of things in mind, my friend. A lot of damned good things…but will people listen to you?"

"They'll have no choice," Chiaki answered. "All our new countrywomen who were just revealed on Wednesday night — not to mention our future countrywomen still waiting for the chance to come down from space — will force people to listen, Sengoku-kun. We can't coast from day to day like we've done for so long." A shake of the head. "I knew the instant that starship appeared in the skies over Tomobiki last June that things would change for us. I never expected anything like what Negako-sama and her siblings brought to us over the last few days, but I knew change was coming. Ignoring it would be…"

The door slammed open to reveal the third member of Asami's Tigers. "Good news!"

Both men looked over. "What is it?" Chiaki asked.

"We got the full support of the Nineties Association!" Yoshimaru Hidekawa announced. "That clinches it! That's the necessary 320 seats needed to pass the bill on Monday and see it practically sent right away to His Majesty for promulgation!"

Shin'ichirō whooped with delight as Chiaki nodded in grim satisfaction. "Excellent," the latter breathed out. "That's the first real big step of this journey!"

Both men gazed at him before the diminutive Hidekawa breathed out. "He's at it again, isn't he?" he sarcastically asked of the much taller Shin'ichirō.

"Since when is this guy NEVER at it?" the Hokkaidō native wondered in turn.

All three laughed…before a knock echoed from the door. "Yes?" Chiaki called out.

"My apologies for disturbing you, Asami-san," the young woman in the formal business suit stated after she bowed to him. "But His Majesty requests the pleasure of your company and your friends' company at this time in his chambers in the Diet Building."

All three men gaped in shock before Chiaki quickly recovered; he had spotted the badge of the Imperial Palace Agency on the woman's jacket lapel. "Please inform His Majesty we will be honoured to join him," he stated as he moved to get his jacket…

* * *

Ten minutes later…

"I trust I'm not interrupting your Sunday, gentlemen."

All three dietmen rose from bowing deeply to their head of state. "Sir, a request from you is no interruption at all to any of us," Chiaki stated — not using the ritual tone of language that was customarily used around the Heavenly Sovereign, of course, but still maintaining proper politeness — as they relaxed themselves at the entrance to the Emperor's Room, located atop the grand staircase that led up from the central hall of the National Diet Building. "How may we be of assistance to you today?"

"You can be of assistance by sitting down and relaxing," the Emperor joked with a twinkle in his eyes as he waved to the chairs in front of the table; he was — much to the visitors' shock — not sitting in the throne-like chair set off in the back of the room which was separated from the rest of the space with a low wall. "Much that I appreciate you not talking to me with the normal tones people always use around me, I don't like people standing on ceremony more than it's required. Sit and relax."

All three men nodded as they walked over to sit down in front of the Son of Heaven. Gazing upon them, Emperor Akihito could only smile as he took the measure of each of their eyes. Ambition, a desire for success, the passion of youth…not to mention the pain of the loss of a caring father in Sengoku Shin'ichirō's eyes and the ghastly memories of what Asami Chiaki had endured in Rwanda sixteen years before. It amazed the Emperor that the childhood story of the young representative for Chiyoda, Minato and Shinjuku here in Tōkyō hadn't got out to the general public; given how popular he was thanks to his meteoric rise to a dietman's seat before he turned thirty, people would want to know everything about him. _No doubt to protect his friend who now leads the Kantō Sagara-kai_, he mused to himself as he remembered reading his father's private writings about watching two other young people determined to make a better Japan go to work back in the early 1950s. Not to mention how a certain clan matriarch — a distant relative of the Imperial Family herself — then living on remote Rishiri-tō had supported Ichijima Yōsuke and Isaoka Norimoto from the shadows in their side-by-side quests to make a better nation free of the influence of the militarists that had led it into a war it couldn't win against a much superior foe. _They did drive far before they realized that what they were fighting was too much for them to take_, the Son of Heaven mused as he sipped his tea. _But now that things have changed so much…!_

"Before I begin, I'd like to thank all three of you for that wonderful bill I hope to present to the nation on Monday," the Son of Heaven began. "It was a very well-thought piece of legislation. Amazing it was so widely accepted by your peers."

"I've been thinking about introducing wider-reaching legislation concerning those residents of Japan who are denied the right to become citizens because of their being Korean — or Chinese or of other nations — by ancestry, Your Majesty," Chiaki admitted. "Sengoku-kun and Yoshimaru-kun — not to mention others in the House of Representatives who have long thought on those very lines — helped write a proposed bill towards that end over the last few months. When Wednesday night's revelations came, it didn't take us long to adjust what we came up with to fit the situation of our new countrywomen from the stars. Besides, given the problem of a declining birthrate in this country, getting new blood into Japan is of great importance to us. That the Urusians' allies from Phentax Two were so kind as to do all the legwork towards that end…"

Amused laughter filled the chamber. "Yes. If they weren't so fanatical about certain things, I'd actually feel very sorry for them," the Emperor stated. "Still, their loss is our net gain. I just received a report from Secretary-General Pan Kimun concerning the meeting between the Moroboshi siblings and the Urusian leadership as hosted by the Empress of Noukiios." As the three dietmen tensed, he added, "President Lana has agreed to Ataru-kun's imposition of Paragraph Ten of the Tag Race Treaty for all citizens of Uru for the next two hundred years. Hiromi-kun reported that the man was actually shocked to hear of some of the things that happened in Tomobiki after the Tag Race. He didn't even know of the incident concerning that space-taxi, believe it or not." As the younger men gaped at him, the Son of Heaven added, "It appears that Captain Invader strongly edited if not totally omitted some of the things he learned from his adopted daughter over the six months she lived on Earth; he was under direct orders by President Lana to inform him of everything that happened while Hensō was living with Ataru-kun. And while General Yethis — as Professor Rhetor revealed on Thursday, he's the leader of the Imperial Round, the group that would see Earth conquered and enslaved by Uru — didn't care to have our part of the solar system closed off to access by his people, the loss of the Niphentaxians' total military power to the Galactic Federation forced him to accept facts and back down."

"I doubt they'll give in that easy, sir," Chiaki warned.

"As do I…but fortunately, Hiromi-kun also bludgeoned them with the threat of the Yizibajohei. You know of them?" As the dietmen all smirked and nodded — the Men In Black had fed a lot of raw gristle to late night commentators across the planet by their reports on the metahumans of Yiziba and how many people from across the Galactic Federation were petrified to even hear the very _**name**_ of their race and/or planet — the Emperor sighed. "As of now, Madame Academician is setting up her special sensor system between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn to destroy all warp-capable starships registered to Uru or any of her colony worlds should they be detected heading to any location inside the asteroid belt. So we'll hopefully have some breathing room to get our affairs fully in order before we have to worry about our nearby galactic neighbours. Hiromi-kun also ventured the idea of the Seifukusu drawing back from their current frontiers to let us have those worlds close to us in a private meeting with their First Mage. While he seemed agreeable to the idea, getting the Magate Round — that's their council of princes — to go along with it will be hard. But Professor Rhetor believes they'll see reason sooner or later; the costs of maintaining those colonies significantly drain the budgets of those of the Imperial Houses directly involved with them every fiscal year. The savings will make them as rich — proportionally so — as Bill Gates."

A whistle escaped Shin'ichirō. "That's a lot of money!"

More laughter. "I'm glad you agree, Sengoku-kun. I pray they'll see it as well," the Emperor stated. "Now, the heart of this meeting and the reason I called you here." He turned to look towards a side door. "Will you please join us?!" he called out.

The door opened, revealing two people — a man and a woman — in white jumpsuits. On seeing them, Chiaki and his friends gaped in surprise on noting how _**young**_ these two were; the elder was a girl who looked as if she should be in middle school while the younger boy should still be in elementary school! Of course, the green magatama hanging off their left earlobes told all three men something as they recalled the briefing Minister of Defence Kitazawa Toshimi had given the Diet as a whole on Friday concerning the starship _Yamato_ and how she had been constructed…and who had been behind her design and construction.

"May I present Hakaru Ayami-kun and Ki Tsukihana-kun, the first two civilian members of what Secretary-General Pan hopes will become the command staff of the United Nations Earth Defence Force," the Emperor said as he beckoned both of them over.

The dietmen all rose. "Thank you so much for doing all that work for us," Chiaki said as they bowed respectfully to the two young tōshi.

Hearing that, Ayami and Tsukihana smiled. "We had to do it," the former said as they returned their bows before coming over, she pulling out a dataPADD to place on the table. The two young teenagers then turned to bow politely to the Emperor, both giving him the fist-in-palm salute used by warriors in old China. "By your leave, Most Gracious Majesty?" the reborn first strategist of Cáo Cāo humbly requested.

"You may proceed, Bunjaku-dono," the Son of Heaven bade.

"Hai!" She then turned on the dataPADD, projecting an organization chart over the slate quartz surface. On seeing that, the dietmen noticed it was a diagram that showed the breakdown of the fifty starships Ayami and Tsukihana had constructed into ten divisions of five ships each. Each group was named according to a rough general location on Earth according to the home nations of each ship. "This is how we envision the Earth Defence Force — as it's being tentatively called by the various heads-of-state who are in the know about this — will be initially structured given the current equipment we have at our disposal at this time. Of course, we planned much more than this when we began our work at Den'sha Two…but after we heard about the Tag Race on the Intergalactic News Network, we finished work on what we had started without moving to build follow-on classes of vessels."

"We didn't really know what the Oni were doing since the INN reports didn't delve into details, so we assumed the worst had happened," Tsukihana added. "Fortunately, when we got out and headed towards Earth, we met up with Onē-chan and her friends right away, then got the whole story." He smiled as he breathed out, "That was quite a relief for us."

"The ships are fully automated as I recall," Hidekawa noted.

"Hai. Right now, we're in the process of having two hundred freshly-gestated Terran-form Avalonians created per ship to man them," the young man from Chichibu with the rusty red hair and slightly tanned skin reported. "After all, equipment breaks down, so we need people to watch over it. Atop that, we managed to chance upon a rich Niphentaxian trader who had 415 just-programmed — but not woken — bioroids with him at that time; we ran into him sometime before we met up with Onē-chan. Of course, that was our first clue that Project: Avalon was still active and ongoing. If we knew beforehand…"

"We would have brought the dockyard and the fleet that was there with us instead of sending it all back to Sagussa to help with their cousins there," Ayami finished for her friend. "Still, it's no real great loss in the long term."

"What did you do to the trader?" Shin'ichirō wondered.

"We beamed out all his girls, beamed him into a lifeboat, fired it out of his ship, then wrecked his ship with _Yamato_'s and _Arizona_'s guns," Tsukihana stated. "Those girls were split apart into two groups, one to man _Yamato_ and the other to man _Haida_. Both Ayami and I base ourselves aboard _Haida_ as she was the first one we built."

Amused chuckles filled the room. "Well, it was for a good cause," Chiaki concluded before he gazed on the holographic chart. "How did you come up with all the names?"

"Well, when we realized that we'd need help in manning these ships, we knew we had to name them after something or someone in individual nations to generate the necessary local support," Ayami explained. "After we met up with Onē-chan, we dipped into the Niphentaxians' big database on all things concerning Earth to get our inspiration. But since we had only FIFTY ships…" She shrugged. "Well, how were we to choose the names?"

"Onē-chan suggested — to be fair — to choose names to make each ship represent one of the fifty most populous nations on the planet," Tsukihana added before he sighed. "We had a problem right there: China and Taiwan, not to mention the two Koreas. So we decided to act as if China and Taiwan were one nation and Korea was unified. Once we did that, it took us about three hours to pick what we felt were appropriate names."

"How so?" the Emperor asked.

"Well, using the names of nations was discounted right then and there, Your Majesty," the young man from Chichibu stated. "After all, it's the same reason the Germans renamed the armoured cruiser _Deutschland_ to _Lützow_ in 1940. Would anyone in Germany back then have liked to read a newspaper report saying '_Deutschland_ Sunk?!'" He winked. "Don't ask me to translate that into German; I don't speak the language." As the adults laughed, he added, "For nations that have confirmed naval traditions, it was easy: Choose a name that represents that nation but is NOT being used for an active or planned warship in the armed services of the nation in question. That's why we couldn't call the American ship _Enterprise_ as there already is an _Enterprise_ in commission."

"What of other nations?" Chiaki asked.

"For other nations, we chose either a prominent historical figure who was _not_ affiliated with some modern political movement OR a prominent physical feature in the country in question like the highest mountain in the country," Ayami stated before pointing out names on the chart. "The _Firdawsī_ from Iran. Master Ferdawsī was a poet from the Tenth Century; he wrote the _Šāhnāmeh_, the 'Book of Kings' that's seen as Iran's national epic. The _Kirkpatrick_ from Australia. John Simpson Kirkpatrick was a medic from World War One who carried wounded soldiers on a donkey off the Gallipoli battlefield in Turkey, singing all the way to the boats so they could be transported to the hospital ships. The _João Cândido Felisberto_ from Brazil. _Senhor_ Felisberto, the son of slaves, was the 'Black Admiral' who led the Revolt of the Whip in 1910 that was launched in protest over corporal punishment in the Brazilian Navy against African-Brazilian crewmen since their officers were all white at the time. The _Lizzie van Zyl_ from South Africa. _Juffrou_ van Zyl was a seven year-old Afrikaner child who died in a concentration camp during the Boer War ultimately because the British never cared to learn how to speak her language when she called out for her mother…"

"They get the idea, Ayami!" Tsukihana scolded.

More laughter. "So why divide the force this way?" Hidekawa asked as he waved to the chart. "In your proposal here, we'd be part of the North Pacific Division with the Chinese, the Koreans, the Americans and the Canadians. Normally, America and Canada…"

"Work with the nations of Europe as part of NATO," Ayami finished. "But do you think people from out there would care as to which nation or which alliance we belong to?" She pointed up in emphasis.

The dietmen nodded in understanding. When the Urusians came to launch their Tag Race in June, they first contacted the Men In Black in New York City concerning their intentions, then contacted the Japanese national government to inform them of their desire that Moroboshi Ataru would be the man to face off against Redet Hensō. Never once did Hensō's father pay any sort of courtesy to the leaders of the accepted superpowers in Washington, Moscow or Běijīng, which soured a lot of feelings towards them among national leaders in each of those cities. However, the girl with the pony-tailed brown hair from Kanagawa just made a very good point; aliens from societies that had been culturally and politically unified for centuries really wouldn't understand what the situation on Earth was like since their own peoples had long evolved away from such regional tribalism.

"So obviously you had to divide via geography…but given your original naming protocol that saw the fifty most populous nations honoured in this way, you had to make some interesting compromises," Chiaki noted. "I would never think of the Indonesians, the Australians, the Brazilians, the Argentinians and the South Africans as nations working together in an alliance. Much less what you put us into." To the Emperor. "Have your counterparts elsewhere seen this general plan, Your Majesty?"

"They have," the Son of Heaven replied. "And while some may have problems with it, they realize that since the aliens — despite what Hiromi-kun just pulled off — will not really leave us alone anytime soon, sacrifices will have to be made for the good of all humanity. Both Terran AND Avalonian," he added with a twinkle in his eye, which made the dietmen nod in understanding; clearly, the older man had a good idea how Monday's vote on the Immigration Bill would go. "Also, given her prominent role in dealing with the Urusians in the talks on Okusei, the chance is there that Hiromi-kun might — despite her youth — be asked to become a senior adviser, if not the leader, of the civilian side of the Earth Defence Force. Because of that, I would ask you boys to help Hiromi-kun along when it comes to dealing with support from the government."

That made all three gape in shock. "Um…no offence, Your Majesty, but why force her into that position?" Shin'ichirō asked. "Since she has her brother's scholastic knowledge, she'll be entering the second year of high school in April, either at Tomobiki High or elsewhere. Will she have time to…?"

"She's a tōshi, Sengoku-kun."

Eyes locked on Chiaki, who had an amused look on his face. "That's right!" Hidekawa breathed out. "She has a magatama…but it's silver…"

"Which is A-rank, making her as a very skilled fighter with profound tactical battle knowledge which could be translated into commanding a fleet of starships to defend our world," Chiaki finished for his friend. "Understandable given her relationship to Negako-sama." To Ayami and Tsukihana. "Who was she?"

Both young tōshi seemed to burst with pride. "Our emperor," Ayami answered.

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"Kentei?" Chiaki asked; he knew of these two young people's battle names and how that related to their past lives back in China during the Three Kingdoms period. He then blinked as something came to him. "No, wait…'Hiromi?' The 'hiro' part is written with the kanji that's read in _on'yomi_ as 'kō'…" He then gaped as it all clicked in. "As in 'Ryūkō'…which is how _**Reitei**_'s real name is read here!"

"Who was that?" Hidekawa asked.

"He was Kentei's father, the second-to-last emperor of the Gokan Dynasty, Yoshimaru-kun. When he died in 189, that's when things really began to fell apart in China."

"But he's _**never**_ come back in the 1,821 years since his death," Ayami added. "Over the reincarnations and the incarnations we've all lived our lives, we always wondered why. After all, the leaders of the Yellow Turbans and the Ten Attendants reincarnated — as did Kentei-sama at times — so why not Reitei-sama? What's worse, when Onē-chan became her own person thanks to Ganzo-ojiisan, her memories of this 'wide-awake nothing' that her soul was forced to live through until it was put into a magatama — by whom, NO ONE knows, not even Onē-san! — to be found by Ataru-oniichan just after he took up the Promise of Bunka Go-nen ten years ago had to be suppressed by Negako-onēsan. What she was made to watch as the rest of us were reincarnated again and again…"

The dietmen shivered and the Emperor bowed his eyes in horrified sympathy as Ayami stopped, her eyes tearing as she recalled what Negako told her about what Hiromi's very SOUL had been subjected to over eighteen centuries as tōshi were born, lived and died again and again throughout that period across China, then Korea and then Japan. As Tsukihana moved to comfort her, Shin'ichirō handed her a handkerchief. She nodded her thanks as she wiped her eyes before taking a deep breath. "I know people like us have bad reputations…but we have dreams, myths and legends that we believe in strongly. The big one is about Reitei-sama…or 'Ryūkō Kyōrei' as Onē-chan calls herself now, using her posthumous name as the 'style name' element of her battle name. In recent times, many of us began to dream of the days before the Yellow Turban Rebellion, before the fight over who would be the Imperial Chancellor or who would have what territory or who would actually succeed the Latter Hàn Dynasty — the Gokan Dynasty as you know it — as leaders of the Middle Kingdom…!" Here, Ayami took a deep breath. "In those myths, the Son of the Heavens who sat on the Dragon Throne — a sex-crazed idiot who only cared for playing with his concubines and let the whole country be run into the ground — morphed over time into the living symbol of when we all lived as one nation. Not fighting in groups like they're divided these days into Rakuyō, Kyoshō, Seito, Nan'yō, Gogun, Yoshū and Yōshū, not to mention the other schools."

"She hasn't been told how bad it's become…yet," Tsukihana added as Ayami handed the handkerchief back to Shin'ichirō with a nod of thanks. "We're not sure HOW to break it to her. If we say it the wrong way, it'll hurt her so much more. She's been hurt too much already and she's worried about her family to think about something like that, especially if they go back to Tomobiki and be with those dork parents of Ataru-oniichan's again, not to mention the other idiots who live there. So…maybe it's for the best that she stays away from everyone for the time being and worry about other things. But sooner or later…" He shook his head, sighing. "Sooner or later…"

"Which means that for Hiromi-kun's sake, she should be distracted from such concerns," the Emperor finished. "She and her siblings will undoubtedly busy themselves helping those poor unfortunates they saved on the bioroid factory and the other ships and stations now in orbit over Earth. Along the way, I want the subject of her becoming the Director of the Earth Defence Force to be broached with her. I would like you fellows — since you're spearheading the welcoming of our new countrymen from the stars — to spearhead this as well. It would be seen as normal given that you'll probably be asked to be the government's official representatives when Otako-san invites you aboard the bioroid factory sometime soon." He gave Chiaki a knowing look, which made the younger man freeze in shock. "Use _**all**_ the resources you have available to you, Asami-kun. You saw it clearly on Thursday, didn't you?"

Chiaki blinked before nodding.

_A wave is coming…!_

He had to ride it…or be drowned by it.

"I did, Your Majesty," he calmly affirmed with a nod of his head…

* * *

Eastern Hokkaidō, overlooking Hamanaka Bay near the Nemuro Peninsula…

Ever since he first came to this beautiful horse ranch overlooking the expanse of the Pacific Ocean two years ago, Hōjō Akira always felt at peace here.

Of course, he hadn't had much of a chance to enjoy the simple view from this place close to the fence-line of the Ichijima Ranch the first time he came this way. Back then, shortly after he had eliminated his predecessor and had been acclaimed as oyabun of the Kantō Sagara-kai, he had to come here as a strategic necessity. Whenever a sitting leader of a Yakuza clan was replaced under such sudden and violent circumstances — the farce about the "fatal stroke" Akira's predecessor had been struck down by hadn't deluded any of the other major clan leaders from Okinawa all the way up here to Hokkaidō — the incoming oyabun had to assert control real quick to ensure his territory wasn't taken away…or he had to appeal to the ONE man ALL Yakuza in Japan held with respect even to this very day with him having lived past his ninetieth birthday and having disbanded his own organization, the Sugamo-kai, years ago.

Ichijima Yōsuke.

It had paid dividends, especially when he heard the old oyabun lament something that struck the survivor of the Rwandan genocide as quite tragic: "_A long time ago…I tried my damnedest to create men of a certain kind. The kind of men who would benefit Japan. But I couldn't do it. Making men is not easy._"

And granted, once he had assured Ichijima that he would go forth to "turn Japan upside-down" to allow a country to rise which could allow the type of men the older gangster had wanted to see born to live and prosper, the other clans had left the Sagara-kai alone to allow Akira to press on with the next stage of his plan to create the sanctuary he and Chiaki had envisioned back in high school when they had their final game of jan-ken-pon…

…and he had gained something of a mentor along the way as well.

"Or maybe you just like the horses, Akira-san. They seem to like you."

Hearing those teasing words, he turned…

…before he blinked in surprise on seeing the beautiful yet tomboyish woman in the plaid flannel shirt, warm jacket — there was still snow on the ground — and form-fitting jeans now sitting relaxed on an equally beautiful black mustang about three metres to his left close to the fence-line where Ichijima himself had been sitting two years ago. Cursing himself for allowing this tranquil scene to distract him from a potential threat — even in this quiet place way off the beaten track, even in this place where no Yakuza would DARE dream of drawing a weapon — he then blinked as a name came back to him. "Aihara Takuya-san, correct?" he asked with an embarrassed smile.

The raven-haired woman — he put her in her early twenties at the latest — with the sparkling golden brown eyes smiled. "Hai, you're right. I can see why my sisters down in Roppongi made a _sakazukigoto_ bond with your group." As his jaw dropped in shock on hearing that admission from her, Takuya added, "If they've got such a smart, young and eager man as oyabun, you're gonna be able to take on the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì before long. Though knowing you…" — she winked at him, which made him smile in return — "…and knowing that you and Yō-san were middle school classmates, an alliance between the Sagara-kai and the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì might definitely be in the cards once they make him the Dragon Sun."

"So where was your master or mistress?" he asked, stunned that the Avalonians knew of the fate of Hinomura Yō…though he was intrigued by the idea of the man known in underworld circles as "Crying Freeman" becoming the new leader of the Society of the 108 Dragons. "I never heard of the Imperial Marines coming up this way. We all keep watch over this property, so we would know if they were in the area."

He then cursed himself on seeing pain and sadness cross her face before she took a deep breath. "Shouldn't be so surprised you just asked me that," she then admitted as she hopped off her horse. Moving to tie him against the fence, she walked over to lean on it close to him. "I'm technically the Elder Mother of the Avalonians who were assigned to the Nemuro observation post…which my mother's supervisors back on Phentax Two lost all contact with thirty years ago. In effect, we became one of the Lost Posts." At Akira's understanding nod, Takuya added, "But Okā-san was a silent supporter of Ganzo-ojiisan, just like Minori's mom down in Roppongi. Pity she never lived to see this day."

"I'm sorry for your loss," he whispered as he reached over to gently grasp her hand, projecting as much care and sympathy as he could muster to her.

She nodded. "Dōmo." Takuya then sighed. "It's not been too bad. Okā-san was Yōsuke-ojisan's personal maid when he was here. She had a huge crush on him, too…but she dared _**not**_ get close to him." A chuckle then escaped her. "She pretty much allowed her feelings for Oji-san to infect me when I was created sometime before we lost all contact with Phentax Two. I grew up from the moment I came out of gestation as a six year-old kid loving him with all my heart and soul. Eventually became his personal secretary and assistant in running this place…even if he was too old to enjoy my other charms."

He laughed as she winked at him. "Does he know?" he then asked.

"He's known for ten years, since just after Okā-san was killed in a typhoon. Of course, that was around the time Dean-san was visiting her friends on the island across the bay there on one of her vacation trips back to Earth, so she vouched for my sisters and I to Oji-san." She then snorted. "Never damn hell occurred to me to ask Dean-san to go to Phentax Twelve to get the factory from there. Stupid fuckin' loyalty locks…!"

He blinked. "'Dean-san'…?"

She pointed. He looked out towards the ocean…and then gaped on seeing the small volcanic island located about a half-kilometre off the shore to the east of the ranch seven kilometres away, just on the other side of Hamanaka Bay from the urban part of its namesake town. Topping that was a small pagoda shrine. "Oh, my…" he breathed out. "Watari-shima?!"

"Hai. The home dōjō of the Tensei-ryū," she affirmed. "You won't see it from here since it's on the east side of the island. Drive down from Anebestu to the seashore and you'll get a good view of it. Of course…" — she gave him a warning look — "…you'll be spotted by junior genin once you get past the Nemuro Main Line. They do value their privacy in this part of the country."

"I wouldn't blame them," he admitted before he reached over to gently squeeze her shoulder. "Did you get all your proper identity papers and all that?"

"Yeah," she admitted with a nod as she gave him a light smile to show her appreciation at his concern. "The Imperial Marines were down by the clubhouse in town on Thursday morning after they spotted us but never picked up Okā-san. At least I got a priestess down here to bless her grave before they headed back up to orbit. Courier from Tomobiki came in this morning with all the goods; we'll straighten the bank records and all that tomorrow." Taking a deep breath, she then straightened herself. "You want to come inside? I'm sure Oji-san will be happy to see you. He likes it when you visit."

"Please," he affirmed.

Takuya looked over and let out a shrill whistle. Akira blinked before he grinned on seeing another mustang — complete with saddle — trot their way…

* * *

The small retirement home the former oyabun of the Sugamo-kai had built for himself was quite modern and very Western in style. Once he was inside and had greeted Ichijima Yōsuke, Akira was also introduced to one of Takuya's sisters, Satō Asami, the resident tech guru of the Nemuro Avalonians. The bespectacled girl with the square-cut raven hair and the grey eyes then moved to play hostess as everyone relaxed in the living room. Watching Takuya with the old oyabun, Akira could only smile in delight on seeing the wise man morph into a playful elderly uncle for a favoured niece. As he recalled the times he had interacted with Tashiro Reiji and his family, the oyabun of the Sagara-kai could only wish for the day far in the future to come when it would be seen as alright for even the lowest Yakuza kobun to have a family to care for and children to raise. He had already started some necessary reforms towards that end within those groups he directly controlled; he had instructed all his under-bosses months ago to ensure everyone in the clan had at least a high school diploma and marketable skills such as computer knowledge or fluency in different languages. Given what Takuya and her sisters were now bringing to the table, the need to have such skills was going to be paramount in the near future…especially once Avalonian technology became commonplace.

"So what brings you here to visit me today, Hōjō-kun?" Ichijima then asked.

"I came here to inform you of the alliance my group made with the Avalonians of Roppongi," Akira reported before he gave Takuya a knowing look. "However, had I know the truth about your assistant, I might have spared myself the trip."

The older man chuckled. "Oh, it was quite amazing the day I finally learned the truth about Takuya-chan and her friends," he stated. "Of course, I never suspected that there might be more of them out there when Dean-san revealed what Natsuko-san — that was the name Takuya-chan's late mother used here, Aihara Natsuko — really was after she had died helping rescue those kids from the typhoon that came by here ten years ago. Takuya-chan and her sisters couldn't confess anything that might have helped free them all thanks to what those idiots on Natsuko-san's home planet did to them all those years ago." A sigh escaped him. "Well, it's better late than never. Asami-chan tells me that no losses were incurred amongst any of her sisters when Negako-san and her siblings came calling on Wednesday, so that's good."

Hearing that honorific applied to Moroboshi Negako, Akira blinked. He thought that given what the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū had done back in 1945, anyone of Ichijima's generation would speak of her with the most profound respect. "'Negako-san?'" he parroted his host.

A content smile answered him. "Who do you think reported to the Shōwa Emperor about the Black Dragon Society's plans to launch their guerrilla campaign against the Americans when it was announced that we would surrender to them in 1945?"

That made Akira nod in understanding. "That was a very brave act."

Ichijima sighed. "There were two of us, actually," he admitted before nodding as Asami handed him some tea. "Myself and Isaoka Norimoto. We helped establish the metahuman research unit the Society first formed in 1937 as a special adjunct to Unit 731 to find a way to combat the number of metahumans appearing in the United States and those other nations we might find ourselves fighting such as Britain and France. We felt we were doing our patriotic duty for the nation, especially after the Steel Angels left us like they did and Master Hosan had killed himself, effectively rendering the Tensei-ryū impotent since their new grandmaster was a _**Canadian**_." He sighed. "But Norimoto-kun and I were first and foremost loyal to His Majesty. What he said was the final law to us in the Imperial Army and Navy." A shake of the head as profound sadness crossed his face. "I helped — even in my own minor way — send dozens of kids my age to their deaths in America in hopes of striking at their factories, Hōjō-kun. They were sent there to find a way to shut down the Americans' war machine before it could be brought to fully bear against us; we weren't as ignorant as a lot of the idiots in the Army were when it came to how dangerous the Americans could be, especially after the attack on Pearl Harbour went off like it did." He sighed. "The only way any of them made it home was as ashes brought back after it was all over by Dean-san and her friends."

"What happened when the news of the surrender came?"

Ichijima sighed. "We were stunned at first. After all, the concept of surrendering was alien to us." He then lowered his eyes. "But Norimoto-kun and I were both blessed with good educations, so we could think it through better than most of our friends did. Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been destroyed by ONE BOMB EACH not a week before! Truman-daitōryō promised that if His Majesty didn't surrender, we would see more of those bombs coming down on our heads. It was obvious that the Americans' patience with the idiots who got us into that war in the first place had come to an end and that they wouldn't risk an invasion of the Home Islands now that they had atomic weapons. And the Soviets were in the war; they attacked Manchuria the day before Nagasaki was hit. If they invaded through Hokkaidō, the whole country would've been ripped in half like Germany and Korea were." He shook his head. "When we confirmed that His Majesty had declared that we all had to endure the unendurable, that settled the issue for Norimoto-kun and I. We would lay down arms. But the others…" He shook his head. "They wanted to go on. And they had dozens of barely-trained kids ready to fight for them. It…"

Akira grimaced. "You had no choice."

"Hai," his host affirmed with a nod. "So we left the main laboratory outside Tōkyō and made our way to the Imperial Palace. Presented ourselves to officers we knew were loyal and willing to follow whatever dictates His Majesty made, then made our report. We were then ushered into His Majesty's private chambers and asked to make the report to him directly!" A chuckle escaped him as he gazed on one wall, where a beautiful painting of the youthful Shōwa Emperor in his military uniform hung. "Oh, that was something!"

"And he summoned Negako-sama," the oyabun of the Sagara-kai finished.

Another nod from Ichijima. "Hai." He then shuddered. "There are few people in this life I have ever truly feared, Hōjō-kun. Moroboshi Negako stands heads and shoulders above the rest of them, even Dean Raeburn and her friends; the War Hawks' sense of propriety — not to mention their overwhelming power — when it comes to fighting would make them pause where Negako-san would simply go forth and kill what she perceived as her target." He then took a deep breath before sipping his tea. "She did what she was ordered to do and the war finally ended in peace, not a bloody civil war. Norimoto-kun and I had to answer for war crimes, of course; given the insane passions that drove that war, there had to be a reckoning even if some would call the war crimes trials in Tōkyō 'victors' justice.' Only spent three years in Sugamo Prison. Once we came out…" He shook his head. "We saw a country that had totally lost its heart and spirit." He gave his young guest a knowing look. "Like you and your friend must have felt when you came back from Rwanda."

Hearing THAT made the young oyabun gape for a moment before he relaxed himself. No matter how he lived his life now, Ichijima Yōsuke had been one of the most powerful people in Japan for years; in ways, he was STILL a very powerful man. And given his open interaction with Aihara Takuya and her sisters, Ichijima would have both the means and the ways to learn everything about anyone who had interested him. A quick touch skin-to-skin — Akira remembered greeting Takuya with a warm handshake two years ago — would tell an Avalonian incredible details about anyone, including hidden connections with an up-and-coming would-be dietman like Asami Chiaki. The rest would only require some simple research and the Internet; pictures of two emaciated Japanese boys in a refugee camp in Uganda from 1994 were available if one knew where to look.

"Hai, we did," he finally confessed. "We came back and looked around — after surviving on our skills of jan-ken-pon in the field for two weeks, starting out with _thirty_ kids and ending with only _**four**_ when we reached the Ugandan border — at the country we once thought was the most beautiful land in the world…and neither Chiaki nor I could deny asking ourselves one simple question: 'Do these people really know how to _**live**_?' So when the time came, we played jan-ken-pon one last time to decide which path we would take to teach people how to live."

Ichijima nodded in return. "As Norimoto-kun and I did after we got out of Sugamo." He then blinked as the last thing Akira said came back to him. "_**Jan-ken-pon?!**_ You really decided which way to go with THAT?!"

Laughter filled the room. "How did you and your friend decide?" Akira then asked.

"Well, Norimoto-kun had a much better tolerance for politics than I did," his host answered. "I'm surprised you don't know of him. I'm sure Asami-kun would know of him quite well; the Liberal Democratic Party was his personal fiefdom from the early 1960s to the mid-1990s when he finally retired. Some of the current senior leaders of the party were his protégés; they're the ones Asami-kun has to deal with now in the Diet."

"Oh! He was the secretary-general of the party back then," Akira affirmed with a nod. "He was implicated in a lot of the corruption scandals that rocked the LDP in the 1990s because of the real estate bubble collapsing like it did. The Nineties Association rose from that. He was never formally charged…"

"But was involved in it right up to his eyebrows," Ichijima affirmed with an amused smile. "That's understandable. Like I told you when we first met, I gave up trying to make the type of men who could have made Japan great. In Norimoto-kun's case, he was just overwhelmed by the corruption between politics and big business. He had no choice but to play along…right to the point where the temptation simply became too much for him." He then sighed. "Now we have you and Asami-kun. Two people who survived a holocaust as children, coming home to find a Japan with a dead soul…and Fate then delivers the Avalonians to our doorsteps, with the whole Universe suddenly open to us now."

He then reached over to gently tap the young oyabun on his right hand over the scar that marked where Akira had stabbed himself with a tantō to prove his determination to work with the Yakuza to Tokai Takaya. "So let this old, tired man help you one more time," he said. "Remember when I called and told you about keeping an eye on the Moroboshi siblings when news of them first broke out in January?"

"Hai."

"Meet with Negako-san. And especially Hiromi-chan; I don't think Tariko-chan will be the new matriarch of the clan given that she's Ataru-kun's true twin sister and probably wouldn't have the stomach for it," Ichijima stated. "You — and Asami-kun — will find very powerful hidden allies in them and their family as you seek your goals for Japan…and for the whole world as well."

Hearing that, Akira then nodded. "I'll do that."

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) Moroboshi Ataru's encounter with **Velial** — his name was spelt "Virility" in the Viz Manga translation — was depicted in the _Yatsura_ manga story "The Devil's Run" (manga episode #37).

2) The emperor Negako speaks of in this part, **Yoshihito**, was the **Taishō Emperor** (1879-1926, ruled 1912-26). The period of his reign saw rise to the **Taishō Democracy**, a time when the influence of the generation of advisers who had helped usher in the Meiji Restoration in 1868 and transformed Japan from a feudal society to a modern industrial power — these men were known as **genrō** ("elder statesmen") — faded as the Imperial Diet began expanding its powers and various political parties sought to bring true democracy to the land. In the universe of this story — as shown in the _Kōtetsu Tenshi Kurumi_ manga series — this period also ushered in a slow bridging of the gap between magical and mundane, thus allowing technology and technomancy to combine to create the **Steel Angels** under the auspices of organizations such as the **Academy of Advanced Sciences** (first introduced in the manga story "A Battle Filled With Deep Hatred" [manga episode #7]). It's leader — known to those who knew of the Academy as "Doctor X" — was none other than Ayanokōji Kurumi's creator/father, **Ayanokōji Hakushi** (his given name is my invention). Also introduced in that story is his chief assistant — and obviously one of the first generation of Steel Angels created by the Academy — **Ōta Diana**. As I stated before, I use the family names of the people who were responsible for the character design of each Steel Angel as their family name; most likely, Diana's character design was done by Ōta Hitoshi himself.

3) **Kōjinshimon** is, as stated above, named after the **Hŭnginjimun** — also known as **Tongdaemun** (literally "East Great Gate") — that is one of the Eight Gates of Sŏul. Like the other gates that once allowed people to enter or leave the capital city, Hŭnginjimun was constructed in 1398. It is located in the Chongno Ward of South Korea's capital city on **Chong-no** ("Bell Street") itself about 2.5 kilometres east of City Hall. Its popular name lends itself over to one of Sŏul's largest commercial districts and shopping areas, the **Tongdaemun Market**, which is located nearby. The name "Hŭnginjimun" — and its Japanese translation, "Kōjinshimon" — literally means "Gate of Rising Benevolence."

4) The term **Shirei'cha** is a word that combines the Sagussan terms for "mother" (_shi_) and "child" (_rei_) with the suffix honorific "_'cha_" which is often used to imply a very important social convention or position. As implied above, this is the subtle mental bond that initially forms between a mother and an unborn child once the latter begins to develop his/her own soul in the latter part of pregnancy. This type of bond does is not as overwhelmingly invasive to one's soul as a _marei'cha_ bond; it eventually fades once the child undergoes the **Awakening** (the time when a Sagussan fully develops his/her sense of the Te'a) around age twelve.

5) **Jan-ken-pon** — often translated as "Rock-Paper-Scissors" or in other combinations — is a hand game usually played by two people, where players simultaneously form one of three shapes with an outstretched hand (a clenched fist for "rock," a flat knife hand for "paper" and a fist with the index and middle fingers extended in a "V" for "scissors"). The "rock" beats scissors, the "scissors" beat paper and the "paper" beats rock. If both players throw the same shape, the game is tied. In the _Sanctuary_ manga story "Scissors-Paper-Stone" (manga episode #23), Hōjō Akira described how he and Asami Chiaki — along with many Cambodian child refugees fleeing the Khmer Rouge — used this particular game to decide which of them would get any animal that was caught for a meal; his explanation to Ishihara Kyōko was that if something like a rat was divided amongst several hungry children, none would really benefit from it. Later in high school, Chiaki and Akira used jan-ken-pon to decide which way they would go on their join quest to renew Japan. As noted before, in the universe of this story, Akira and Chiaki lived in Rwanda during the early 1990s; when the Rwandan Genocide began, they were separated from their families and — joining a small group of Hutu children — fled for Uganda.

6) Asami Chiaki's policy goals towards allowing immigration to Japan was described in the _Sanctuary_ manga chapter "To Open the Country" (manga episode #24). His fight for direct elections for the office of Prime Minister was first announced in the manga chapter "Reform" (manga episode #101). There was no direct talk by him concerning the modification to Article Nine of the Constitution (mentioned in Part Ten) in _Sanctuary_, but given Chiaki's drive to reform everything in Japan, doing such would make a lot of sense.

7) In _Sanctuary_, Sengoku Shin'ichirō's father — and predecessor as holder of his district's seat in the House of Representatives — **Sengoku Tatsumi** advocated a development scheme to create a vacation resort in Hokkaidō. This project was actually used to pump billions of yen into the coffers of the leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party…and specifically, Isaoka Norimoto himself. Tatsumi's suicide was in response to his personal shame over being involved with such actions; as would be revealed later in the series when those of his faction in the LDP allied with his son, Tatsumi was a very honest man. In the universe of this story, Tatsumi died under the same circumstances…but since Isaoka retired from leading the LDP in the mid-1990s, it was many of Isaoka's protégés who benefited from the kickbacks that came with the money poured into development of the Hokkaidō resort.

8) The **House of Representatives** (_Shūgiin_) is composed of 480 seats (divided into 300 seats representing actual electoral districts across Japan and 180 seats whose members are elected from 11 multiple-member constituencies by a party-list system of proportional representation). Any legislation which is passed by this part of the National Diet must require a two-thirds majority (320 seats) to override any amendments or rejection by the upper house of the Diet, the 242-member **House of Councillors** (_Sangiin_) except in matters of the budget, treaties, or designation of the Prime Minister; in these cases, the House of Representatives can insist on its decision. Once such legislation is passed by both houses of the Diet, it is then **promulgated** by the Heavenly Sovereign (who cannot veto such legislation) into law.

9) The **Intergalactic News Network** (**INN**) was introduced in _The Senior Year_ as a sort of galactic counterpart to the Cable News Network in the United States. This broadcast network is based on the planet Zeiwan.

10) Translations: **Kantei** — Literally "official residence" (the proper title of the residence of the Prime Minister of Japan is _Sōri Daijin Kantei_ or "Prime Minister's Official Residence"); **Senhor** — Mister; **Juffrou** — Miss; **NATO** — North Atlantic Treaty Organization; **On'yomi** — Literally "sound reading," this is the reading of any particular kanji character in Japan which is based on the original Chinese reading of said character.

11) _Ikkitōsen_ character notes:

The modern reincarnation of the **Yellow Turban** rebels — the **Kōshi Kasshi** motorcycle gang — are my creations; they were first described in Part 21 of _PFtA_.

Another of my creations for that story are the reincarnations of the **Ten Attendants**; they were described in the writer's notes for Parts 26 and 27 of _PFtA_.

12) The actual location of Ichijima Yōsuke's home in Hokkaidō was never given in _Sanctuary_; the location described above is my invention.

13) The **Baakbaatlùhng-kuì** ("Society of the 108 Dragons") is the Chinese Triad — described as part of the "Chinese Mafia" — that appeared in the manga series _Crying Freeman_, whose artwork was done by Ikegami Ryōichi and was written by **Koike Kazuo**. The series was published from 1986 to 1988. The manga is based on the adventures of **Hinomura Yō**, a potter that came to the attention of the 108 Dragons and was later kidnapped and subjected to both brainwashing and stern martial arts training to make him the perfect assassin. He would eventually earn the nickname **Crying Freeman** because — after every time he kills — he sheds tears as a show of the humanity that remains within him even when he allows his training to push him to nearly-superhuman levels; he is seen by many as the strongest man in the world. On becoming the leader of the 108 Dragons, Yō was given the local name **Lùhng Taaijòehng** (literally "Dragon Sun"); as the 108 Dragons are based in Hong Kong, I gave both the society name and Yō's Chinese name proper Cantonese readings.

As with _Sanctuary_, I moved up the storyline of _Crying Freeman_ to recent times to allow Yō to be middle school classmates with Hōjō Akira; this would make both men 28 years old at the time this story is set in 2010. This story is set at the start of the _Crying Freeman_ manga; Yō recently met his future wife **Hino Emu**.

14) **Unit 731** (officially the "Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department of the Kantō Army") was Japan's top-secret biological-warfare and chemical-warfare research unit that was active before and during World War Two. Operating from 1935-45 in northeast China, it was responsible for many of the war crimes committed during that conflict on the native population. However, given the considerable political and military necessities of the Cold War that began right afterwards, those who were involved in Unit 731 were granted amnesties by the American occupying authorities after the surrender in 1945.


	13. Taeko and Negako Visit the King

Space Factory #319, after supper…

"So Taeko-san isn't allowing people to get back inside the Hinata-sō until Wednesday?"

"Hai," Ogasawara Iori stated as she moved to hang her school uniform on a rack. A bed had been brought into Narusegawa Naru's recovery room so that her would-be bond-mate would be able to sleep with her for the remaining time that the latter was recovering from her wounds; in the morning, Iori would beam back to Earth to go to school. "Much that the tents Tanya arranged to have transported down so we could all sleep in them for the next few nights are comfortable, I'd rather spend my spare time up here to make sure everything's alright with you."

That made the other woman blush. "Well, I seem to be recovering," she mused as she slowly raised her right arm off the mattress of her diagnostic bed. "Kaoru-sensei said that the regeneration of my neurons is coming along okay. Even if Toshiko-san's brother wanted to permanently cripple me, he didn't count on people who were experts in dealing with the type of weapon he used coming in right away to help heal me. If the Noukiites hadn't come and started the treatments right away, I could've suffered permanent nerve damage."

Iori gazed over her shoulder at Naru. The neural suppressant ring that had been around the latter's neck had been replaced by a new unit that was wrapped under Naru's breasts, which gave her some voluntary control over her body above mid-back. The wounded high school senior was currently lying naked on the bed with the covers coming up to her navel; underneath those covers, special waste removal devices had been affixed to her groin to help clear out urine and fecal matter without making a mess for the nurses and medical assistants working under Shiina Kaoru to clean up. Naru hadn't been doing anything other than cautiously lifting and lowering her arms to get them moving again after over three days of immobility; Iori had been there to help the other girl eat her meals…which embarrassed the heck out of her would-be bond-mate. That was an encouraging sign in the eyes of Kaoru and the other healers helping Naru, Motoko and Mitsune recover. Naru was a very stubborn girl at heart and she needed that personal drive to be in total, complete control over her situation to push her to a full psychological as well as physical recovery.

"That's true. Then again, Tarash never really understood people like us even if he personally saw us as living beings and not dumb robots," Iori stated as she finished hanging up her personal belongings, then moved to sit down beside her friend's diagnostic bed. She was dressed in her normal flowery yukata; Naru knew from all the times she had seen Iori during nightly and weekend classes at the Sasaki Seminar that her would-be bond-mate was actually rather conservative when it came to things like girls' fashions.

"Are they all willing to ask Keitarō to father their children?" Naru wondered.

Iori smirked; she had sensed the derisive tone in the other woman's voice. "Naru, don't do that," she scolded as she gave Naru a warning look. "You don't need to grandstand like you do with some of the girls back in school when it comes to Keitarō. I can smell that sort of thing fifty metres away." She crossed her arms. "Besides, after Nanako tore a strip off both you and Motoko that one time, you backed away and left him be. Believe it or not, he did appreciate you doing that; that was a big improvement over what Motoko and Kaolla always tried to do right straight to Wednesday. Don't think you can just head back down there and pretend it all never happened when Kaoru finally declares you healed. Too much has changed."

Those words made Naru wince before she breathed out, "Okay! Okay!" She then reached over with her left hand to guide Liddo-kun closer to her. "You don't need to give me the tenth degree over that, Iori. I thought you were supposed to be my friend!"

"I AM your friend, Naru. And I hope to be much more once you're willing to take it to that next stage," Iori countered back. "And because I'm your friend, I'm watching out for you, making sure you won't get hurt. I know deep down you really liked the idea of Keitarō doting over you like he's done. You didn't like it when your dad dropped that little bombshell yesterday concerning how he feels about you now." As Naru winced, the other woman adjusted her glasses. "If you go back down there assuming that things will go back to the way they were before he met Toshiko, you're wrong. Way wrong!"

Considering that for a moment, Naru slowly nodded. "Yeah…it's just…" She then shook her head. "It'll just be so weird now with him not living inside the manager's room downstairs, not to mention no longer having that hole in the floor of my room so that I could talk to the person down there whenever I wanted to like I did with Obā-chan. I…" She lightly blushed. "Iori, promise me you won't share this with any of the normal girls in class or in seminar…"

"Mum's the word."

"I…" Naru shuddered as her cheeks reddened even further, and then she breathed out, "I remember before we did the Centre Test…I heard him moan in his sleep through the hole in the floor one night. I looked down to see if he was okay…and well…" She paused before whispering, "I saw…well, IT!"

Iori blinked before she reached over to grasp Naru's hand. Instantly, the image of the latter's memory sprang up before her mind's eye before she gaped. "You pervert!" she then teased. "Spying on a nearly-naked man when he was sleeping?! I'm shocked!"

"_**HEY!**_"

As Naru glared at her, Iori winked back. Both girls then blinked before giggles escaped them. "Okay! I deserved that!" the former then confessed. "Still…why, Iori?"

Iori pulled her hand away. "He's doing it because he feels very strongly that your wishes and desires — not to mention the others' wishes and desires — were violated by his grandmother when she left you last January without warning you ahead of time that she was considering him as a replacement," she stated. "He's doing it for all of YOU, Naru! You, Motoko, Mitsune, Kaolla and Shinobu! How simple could that be?! I know you've gotten used to having him around as the manager, but there's still the mistrust and resentment on all your parts and the anger on his part for being tricked into that position in the first place! You remember when I showed you the power of attorney papers? When he found out how much his hands were tied because of his grandma, he was enraged! Both for himself AND for all of you! How simple could all that be?!"

The wounded would-be Tōdai student winced again as she recalled reading the power of attorney statements between Urashima Hina and her son Mashiro on Keitarō's behalf concerning the running of the Hinata-sō that had been copied into the HyperNet that — because of one tiny clause that legalized Hina's promise to the girls that they never had to worry about being kicked off the property…but had never been revealed to Keitarō when he was made manager, thus giving him the impression that his _**grandmother**_ had LIED to him! — was now going to be the centrepiece of a hearing before the Kanagawa District Court tomorrow morning. A hearing that — given the wide support Keitarō enjoyed from the business leaders and government officials in Hinata City — would see the Hinata-sō ripped from Hina's hands and delivered right into her grandson's. Once that was done, he would officially make his sister Taeko the manager and landlady of the Hinata-sō and then withdraw from any say in the day-to-day running of the dorm.

While Naru DID appreciate Keitarō's concern for the feelings of the original tenants over this whole issue — not to mention his gladly opening the doors of the Hinata-sō to Iori and all her sisters (not to mention any other Avalonian who would want to live at the former hot springs hotel), which would allow Naru to spend all the time she could with her would-be lover — the fact that he had done it without even talking to her about his plans bothered her greatly. "Still, he should have said something about what he was planning," she protested. "Why didn't he do that?"

"With the way you girls feel about what his grandmother did for all of you?" Iori countered. "Look what you did after the deed and the power of attorney papers were delivered last year. You girls all held a discussion to see if you would accept that. And then, when you said you were okay with it, you turned right around and tried to trip him up in some hopes of driving him out of the place! When you were all GUESTS of his family there! Who gave YOU — much less Mitsune and Motoko — the right to judge what the OWNER of the property decided about who would be the day-to-day manager of the place?" As Naru winced yet again at her friend's harsh words, Iori sighed. "Yes, you all came together without any warning on either side, but you ultimately had NO right to question any decision Hina made about who would replace her as the manager and landlady."

"What about his making Taeko-san the new manager?" Naru countered. "He isn't the owner yet! I doubt Obā-chan would like a _**tokkaebi**_ of all people becoming the landlady!"

"True…but you STILL have NO right to judge his decisions when it comes to the proper management of the property, as he was FORCED to make thanks to Hina!" Iori sternly declared. "Remember, you're still a GUEST of the Urashima Clan while you live at the Hinata-sō!" As Naru winced yet again on hearing that, Iori added, "It's NOT your property. It's not Motoko's property, it's not Mitsune's property, it's certainly not Kaolla's property or Shinobu's for that matter! It legally belongs to Urashima Hina at this time! And while that will most likely change tomorrow morning, the ownership — and whatever arrangements were made by Hina in her rights as the LEGAL owner of the property — does NOT belong to you or the others. You really have to lose that attitude, Naru. If you don't, then all the threats about eviction will become reality. What happens to you then?"

THAT made Naru choke as she stared wide-eyed at the other girl. "I-i-Iori…?!"

A tired sigh escaped her. "Naru, you know — at least, I hope you know — how much I care for you," Iori stated as she slipped off her glasses to reveal her eyes misting over. "I know what a good person you are underneath it all. Will you PLEASE stop giving in to all the anger and resentment you've felt over the years about what your mother did and didn't do to you after she married her current husband?"

"This has nothing to do with that!" Naru snapped.

"Naru…remember who you're talking to."

Silence fell as Naru considered that before she sighed. "Are you all programmed to be psychologists?" she then sarcastically wondered as she stared wearily at Iori.

"No…but I can't forget what I've sensed from you over the last two years," the Terran-form Avalonian high school senior replied. "Every time some guy tried to be at least your friend, you saw in each and every one of them your stepfather, the man who took your mother away from you. The only man in the last two years you felt was acceptable was Seta-sensei because he was so nice to you when he tutored you. Not to mention how much he showed he cared for his adopted daughter because he was friends with Sarah-chan's mother and how he vowed he would care for her after Julia-san and her husband died. In Keitarō, you started to see many of the same qualities Sensei had, so you accepted him even if he was always tongue-tied and flustered around you and never thought through what he was doing when it came to you; that's what led to all the accidents he had with you. Hadn't that whole business with Toshiko happened, I think you'd be still warming up to him…even if you kept on lashing out at him when he did something wrong."

"What are you saying?!"

"Deep down, you're afraid to lose him once and for all time. Both as a friend…and perhaps even something more than a friend. You got jealous when he started getting close to Mutsumi-san when you were down in Okinawa. You also got jealous at the fact that Toshiko acted so familiar with him, not to mention all the girls Toshiko convinced to date him after she put you into the hospital. And thanks to the fact that he's practically allowed you to get away with multiple counts of _**assault and battery**_ over the last year when he could have sicced the police on you — they were prepared to come take you away if Keitarō let them do that, by the way! — you feel it's your given right to 'punish' him for anything you might not approve of." She shook her head. "You ultimately drove him away, Naru. You didn't stop to think things through like you do in any other situation you face…and you drove Keitarō away, just like you did all the other guys who wanted to be your friend back in school. Do you realize that all the men at Hinata High are flatly convinced you're a _lesbian_?! And a rabid _**androphobe**_ atop all that?!"

"_**THAT'S NOT TRUE!**_"

"I know it's not true…but THEY don't!" Iori snapped back. "What's worse, they've been spreading stories behind your back to anyone who might want to listen to that sort of gossip!" She took a deep breath as twin streaks flowed down her cheeks. "I wanted to slam some of those idiots in the head for saying such things about you…but I couldn't! That would be breaking cover and I was specifically told by Tarash to never to do anything that might risk breaking cover!" A tired sigh escaped her. "What's worse, those rumours are being spread beyond school to a lot of the adults in town! I told you about the fact that the police have been salivating at the chance to lock both you and Motoko up in jail if Keitarō decided to press charges." As Naru paled, Iori breathed out, "So you have a choice. Accept what's happened now and try to make up to Keitarō after he gets over the anger he feels towards you…or keep behaving as normal and get into a situation that makes what's happened over the last two weeks seem like a tea party in comparison. You want that?!"

Naru blinked as she took a moment to recover from the tidal wave of information Iori just slammed onto her head before she seemed to deflate, her eyes tearing. "He _hates_ me…?" she then moaned.

Iori took a deep breath. "No. Deep down, he still has strong feelings for you." She then shook her head. "But right now, there's a new complication."

That made Naru gulp. "Wh-what?"

"Keitarō has a bond-mate."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"_**A BOND-MATE?!**_" Naru shrilled out. "_**WHO?!**_"

"Me."

Iori's head snapped around. "Karumi-san!"

Naru jolted…

…and then she cringed on feeling a terrible chill wash over her from the direction of the door leading into her room. That was the same type of frigid feeling Motoko always projected whenever the Shinmei-ryū kendō-ka was REALLY pissed off about something. Naru then slowly turned as someone walked into her range of vision from the left, turning at the last moment to reveal her face…and the silver magatama hanging off her left earlobe, barely masked by the bangs of shaggy flaming red hair she possessed. On seeing THAT, Naru gaped in disbelief on finding herself in the physical presence of a _**tōshi**_ of all things…and an _**A-rank**_ tōshi at that, which — if all the stories she had heard of concerning the ultra-passionate fighters who attended schools like the Kyoshō Academy in Ninomiya up the Sagami Sea coast from Hinata were even the LEAST bit true — made her a _very_ dangerous person to be anywhere close to.

As Naru took in the measure of the older woman, a smile crossed the newcomer's face as she held up her right hand…which gave Naru a VERY good view of the beautiful engagement ring she now had. After a moment as she tried to think about how Keitarō would have met a _tōshi_ of all things — to say anything of his being BONDED to such a person to the point where he would actually give her an _**engagement ring**_! — she then asked, "Who are you…?"

"As Iori-chan here just told you, Narusegawa, I'm Keitarō's bond-mate," the newcomer coldly stated as a mirthless smile crossed her face. "Not to mention his fiancée. Dō Karumi's my name. The history books here call my past-self 'Tōgai Shisai'; if you've read anything about the Three Kingdoms of China, you just might have heard of me." She then smiled. "I graduated from Kyoshō in 1968 if you wish to know. And had your precious _Obā-chan_…" — one could coat the floor of Naru's recovery room with the level of sarcasm Karumi showed in saying that word — "…decided not to play around with things she shouldn't have when I was dating her older brother Kyōsuke, I might now be Keitarō's _**grandaunt**_. Instead, Hina decided — because she couldn't stand the fact that Kyōsuke wouldn't listen to a damn word the stupid little control freak said about the 'dangers' of his dating a tōshi and followed his heart when it came to me — to get me drunk, knock me out, drag me into the tunnels under the Hinata-sō and practically BURY ME ALIVE for FORTY FUCKING YEARS!" As Naru gasped in horror and disbelief on hearing that, Karumi smirked. "Rather a pity that she forgot that the living spirit of the _**Yōkatana Hinata**_ — which was in the storage room near the lobby on the first floor of the Hinata-sō — knew what was going on…and then, when Keitarō allowed her to possess him on Thursday, he came down to break me out." As another croak of disbelief escaped Naru — she had been told about the truth behind the Great Fire of 1603 by Motoko — on hearing that, Karumi added, "After Iori-chan's sisters gave me a new body — and he got a blood-transfusion from Taeko-sama to give him the same powers I have now; if you haven't figured it out by now, she's the living spirit of the Yōkatana Hinata — the Kami decided that we would become the Sagussan equivalent of husband and wife."

She leaned down to glare into Naru's wide brown eyes, making the younger woman cringe. "Believe me, Narusegawa, when Keitarō and I made love to each other on Friday night in the Forbidden Annex for TWO HOURS STRAIGHT, I knew that he was the right man for me," she added with a sensual purr before shaking her head as a pitying look crossed her face. "You stupid, selfish little girl. All you had to do was click in that grey matter between your ears every once in a while and LOOK at the whole damned situation with Keitarō…and you could have had him right then and there!" She snapped her fingers in emphasis before she leaned back. "But you didn't. You decided that since he was a fuckin' intruder in the little fantasy world that Hina gave you two years ago, you felt you had every damn right in the world to ABUSE him to your heart's fuckin' content!"

As Naru jolted on hearing that accusation from the older woman, Karumi breathed out, "But since it was _**Hina**_ that started this whole damned mess, Keitarō decided that you — much less that honourless excuse of a martial artist Aoyama, your slut ex-schoolmate Konno and the spoiled little princess from Molmol — didn't deserve to be tossed out on your collective asses even after you ATTACKED him, BELITTLED him, STOLE from him and basically made his life a total HELL for the last year! So you get to stay in your little room once we get it all fixed up." She waved to Naru's personal belongings, which were piled up against the bulkhead to her left. "Even better, you can be with your girl here." She waved to Iori. "She can move into Room 303 beside yours…or maybe take the third floor corner room of the southwest wing we're putting in where the parking lot and the driveway used to be, mating it up to the corner of the south wing where your room happens to be located. So buck up and be happy. You don't need to put up to a clumsy idiot who always stumbled in on you when you were getting changed." She turned as if to leave. "That's what you REALLY wanted deep down, didn't you?"

She then took a couple steps before stopping. "Oh…and if you get any ideas of trying to force yourself on MY man anytime in the future…"

Her hand suddenly blurred as a breeze whipped past Naru's face.

_THWACK!_

The wounded high school senior blinked before she turned…

…and then she awked on seeing her Liddo-kun doll _nailed_ to the bulkhead with a _**chopstick**_ driven right between his eyes! As Naru gulped on seeing how FAST and how DEADLY the older woman was — not to mention shuddering in helpless frustration on seeing how Karumi had damaged one of her most precious possessions — when it came to thrown objects, Karumi leaned back to stare into her eyes, once more making the younger girl shy away. "Get the hint?" she coldly asked. "Hurt Keitarō, I hurt you worse. If you're so fuckin' pissed off at the man who took your mom away, ask Iori-chan here for a Lawgiver so you can shoot the son of the bitch dead! Or maybe kill your mom for driving your dad away like she did!" Karumi smirked. "Don't worry about Hina. She's in a _coma_ somewhere in Belgium right now." As Naru gasped, the tōshi added, "That's the price the bitch ultimately paid for playing around with _**blood ki wards**_ when she was _never_ a martial artist in the first place! If you don't believe me, ask Aoyama when you get the chance! Chances are good that if the stupid little bitch doesn't die in the next while, she'll be a _**mental vegetable**_ for the rest of her useless life!" She then shook her head as she moved to leave. "Too late to try to do anything to force you and Keitarō together again…like she intended all along when she tricked him into coming down to the Hinata-sō to be your landlord!"

With that, Keitarō's fiancée walked out of the room, leaving a stunned Naru behind as Iori shook her head, muttering under her breath…

* * *

Molmol City, the Royal Palace, that moment (local time: Two hours before midnight)…

"_**THIS IS A TOTAL OUTRAGE!**_"

Hearing that bellowed shriek from the living room of the suite of apartments that had been set aside for the Grand Chamberlain and his family, a tired sigh escaped the tomboyish teenager with the silvery-grey hair and eyes the shade of the purest amber. Getting up from her chair, she walked over to the open doorway of her bedroom to gaze into the living room, where her father was pacing to and fro and her uncle — who was standing close to the main doors into the Gan family's private suite — was shaking his head in frustration.

"Father, what is it?" Leida Gan asked. "Are you okay?"

Panda Gan turned to stare in shock at his only child before he sighed. "I'm sorry, dear," he apologized. "I just got some bad news from your uncle."

That made Leida blink. "What bad news?"

"Those anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards surrounding all the islands close to us are still up," Ganda Gan stated as he gave his niece an apologetic look. "Try as we might to go over to deliver the King's demands to any of the senior officials there, we can't apparate or portkey ourselves over." He walked over to sit down on a couch as one of the servants assigned to his brother came over with tea to help him relax. "When I called John Fitzpatrick in Pararakelse City to demand he lower those screens, he told me that until such time as I respected American sovereign territory and all their laws about entering said territory, I was _persona non grata_ and forbidden from going there. All the other people I spoke to said the same thing!" He shuddered. "How DARE they…?!"

"Easy! Easy!" Panda stated as he walked over to place a reassuring hand on his brother's shoulder. "We'll get around this soon enough, Gan! Ambassador Gāo will take our official protest at this disgusting behaviour by our neighbours straight to the ICMC in Geneva! Once they learn about this, they'll force the stupid Yankees and the rest of them to lower those screens!" He then cackled as a look of calculation crossed his face. "Once they're gone, we can finally go settle issues with that monster that DARED hurt Princess Kaolla like she did! We'll see how this so-called 'Destroyer of Kyōto' faces up to the full might of the **_Royal Magical Army of Molmol_**!"

As her father and uncle both laughed uproariously in anticipation of delivering some serious retribution to Urashima Taeko, Leida could only shake her head as she headed back into her bedroom, closing the door behind her. Once she did that, she made a gesture with her hand. A reddish glow covered the limb in question as special seals she installed a year ago clicked into place, totally blocking off her private space from any outside intrusion. Once that was done, she groaned. "Father and Uncle are _**morons**_!" she muttered under her breath as she walked over to sit at her work desk.

It was rather hard being one of the VERY few people on Molmol who KNEW the ugly truth about how almost everyone living on the island these days were affected by what was buried deep under the rock of the Kasi Mountains to the northeast of the capital.

It was an interesting benefit of her _swallowing_ a red crystal the size of a Japanese one yen coin she found near the edge of the Windy Desert four years ago when she had gone on a picnic — on a dare from her oldest, dearest friend when said friend's governess wasn't looking their way — believing said crystal was actually a very pretty ruby…

…but turned out to be a crystal of _**ruby mesonium**_!

Since she had done that, Leida's whole life had changed in ways that she could never have imagined even with all the knowledge she had at her fingertips as the only daughter of the Grand Chamberlain for the Royal House of Molmol. Already scarily smart — one couldn't be a true friend of someone like Kaolla Su without being very intelligent — for her age, the ruby meson flowing in Leida's veins had unleashed a metric tonne of incredible genetic upgrades in her body…and by extension, her very soul. Having been born of two magicals — her mother Darla had attended Beauxbâtons in France when she was of proper age — Leida was guaranteed to possess that type of metahuman power right from birth; her bouts of accidental magic as she was growing up were spectacular according to both her parents. Having Panda Gan as her father and Anda Gan as her grandfather, however, guaranteed that Leida would not attend a magical academy when she came of proper age; she would be home-schooled. She didn't mind that part; she had access to all of her mother's, grandfather's and uncle's textbooks and could seek information from any magical on the island right up to Surya Patha herself if she needed to. But having ruby meson pumped into her body gave her some considerable non-magical capabilities which made her as much a true metahuman — Leida _never_ understood why magicals didn't accept the fact that they were, by the textbook definition of the term, metahumans themselves — as Kaolla herself. Most of all, thanks to the ruby meson, whatever damage to her body and mind the ebony meson radiation from the Kasi Mountains had unleashed on her since birth was quickly healed up.

And while being truly in control of herself had been a true blessing, Leida also knew that revealing THAT problem to anyone around her would unleash all sorts of unnecessary headaches…to say anything of one simple fact: Who the hell was going to listen to a _**fourteen year-old**_ girl — whose father was seen by many on Molmol and beyond as a pompous ass — yell out the warning about everyone here suffering from something that could see the _**Omega Directive**_ unleashed on them if the idiots in the ICMC pressed the panic button?!

Which they might soon do…!

"Anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards, huh?"

With that, Leida tapped controls on her personally-modified laptop computer to key via a wireless link into a special sensor system she had invented two years ago — she LOVED being Molmol's other great child genius beyond Kaolla! — and set up on Mount Babur, an extinct volcano overlooking the southern edge of the Windy Desert that was the island's highest point. A moment later, a graphic map of the area around Molmol appeared on the screen. Now shielding all the islands within apparition range of Molmol — even Howland and Baker Islands, two uninhabited coral islands claimed by the Americans to the east — were overlapping fields of energy that indicated such wards were up and running at full power. Nodding at that, she moved to close off the scan…before her brow furrowed as something came to her. She then tapped controls to do a detailed analysis of the energies that were going into those wards. A moment later, she gaped before giggling with approval and admiration. "Meson-powered, eh?" she mused to herself before closing off the scan before turning back to other things. "Must have had some help from the Avalonians."

The Avalonians…

Even THINKING of the Space Angels sent shivers of excitement through Leida's body.

After all, who would have ever suspected something like _**that**_?!

Real, honest to goodness ALIENS actually living amongst Terrans!

And doing it for YEARS according to all the news reports — Leida just LOVED the BBC; she was a devoted _Top Gear_ petrol-head, much to her father's despair and her mother's amusement! — that had been pumped out since Wednesday night.

Even _**Pararakelse**_ had a hundred of the beautiful bioroid women living on the island; the Elder Mother of that group turned out to be one of the senior assistants to a magical archaeologist from Britain named Corrine McMaster — whose research papers Leida loved to read — who was one of many of her trade who had gone there to explore the ruins of the long-lost Turtle Kingdom.

Yet…

_Why didn't they come here to Molmol?_ Leida wondered…

…before her eyes suddenly widened. _DID they come here…?_

Pausing as she considered that, the young genius then crossed her arms. If there indeed were Avalonian-Molmolites, how did one find such people…and why didn't the Noukiites note this right from the start when they sent teams of Imperial Marines down to deal with all the Niphentaxians living on Earth late Wednesday afternoon?

Unless…

"The Kasi Mountains…?" she whispered.

Instantly, she went back to the controls to her special scanner on Mount Babur. Taking a moment to program the specific search criteria into the master computer, Leida then smiled as she waited for the scanner to do its work. "The radiation must have blanked out Noukiite sensors from orbit," she muttered to herself. "If there is…"

Suddenly, a target icon appeared over the north coast of Molmol. Seeing that, Leida gaped before she shook her head. "No way…Kasi village…?" With that, she moved to do a detailed life-scan of the area, concentrating on any dense readings of diamond-pattern mesonium that could be mated to human lifeforms; all the news reports on the Avalonians had revealed THAT little secret about their bodies' basic biology. "I wonder…"

A small window then appeared, flashing a number. "A hundred…and **_twenty-five_**?!" the young genius wondered aloud. "But that doesn't make any sense! All the observation posts the Niphentaxians had always possessed only ONE HUNDRED Avalonians each…!"

She then gaped before tapping a new request into the machine…

* * *

Pararakelse City, that moment (local time: Saturday 20 February, an hour before midnight)…

"Okay! Okay! Calm down!" a nude Bethany Mason muttered under her breath as she walked over to the large dataPADD she now had in the living room of her private apartment in the southern part of the commonwealth's capital city. Sitting at the table, the technical genius of the Avalonian-Pararakelsians tapped controls to bring up a readout of whatever her new sensor system had picked up. "Molmol AGAIN…?!" she then moaned as the location data came up to her. "Lyna's Soul, why can't…?!"

She blinked as detailed information appeared in the COMMENTS box of that particular information window. "'Ruby meson-powered scanner unit on the summit of Mount Babur now conducting a detailed analysis of all of Molmol Island. Location of control station unknown'…?" she read aloud before tapping controls to get her own sensory unit going before she opened a link to one of the space factory units in geostationary orbit. "Factory Two-twenty!"

"Space Factory #220, Kenner here," a voice called back as a small live-feed window appeared on the screen. "What's the problem, Bethany?"

"Sorry to bother you, Elaine, but can you do a quick bio-scan of Molmol?" Bethany asked. "My scanners here on Pararakelse just picked up a ruby meson-powered scanner unit on Mount Babur. You got the message about the ebony meson that's in the Kasi Mountains on the north end of the island, didn't you?"

"Yeah, we all did," Elaine Kenner — a black Avalonian-American who planned to move to Hawai'i once Congress approved a pending immigration bill introduced into the House of Representatives on Friday — replied. "Not to mention the ruby meson that might be in the desert south of the capital city. Just give me a moment here."

"Thanks."

* * *

Molmol City…

"Oh, Allāh…a hundred and two adults and twenty-three children?!"

As she closed off the scanner unit on Mount Babur, Leida took a deep breath. Okay, she had proof now; there WERE Avalonians living on Molmol. While she didn't have the means to detect any of the bioroids' former masters as she didn't have samples of Niphentaxian DNA, she could still draw a couple conclusions from what she had just discovered. The Avalonians on Molmol were clearly moving to have children of their own with local men as fathers…and had been doing it for at least two years according to what the scanner unit had reported about those children's current age and general health.

Atop that, the Avalonians on Molmol were no doubt in contact with their sisters up in space and elsewhere on Earth.

After all, where else would the two other adult Avalonians now on the island come from?

But why…?

The young genius then hummed as she tapped controls to do a detailed house-to-house scan of what was going on inside Kasi village. As a graphic of the small fishing port appeared before her — complete with street names and prominent places all clearly indicated — target icons began to appear from one side of town to the other. "Oh, Allāh…!" Leida breathed out as she noted how integrated the bioroids living in the village were…

Wait!

She gaped on noting that two of the Avalonians were now at 16 Agra Street.

"Miss Tirtha…!" Leida breathed out before she concentrated…

…and with a gentle _pop!_ of air, apparated herself out of the Royal Palace!

* * *

Pararakelse City…

"Oh, Lyna…!"

Bethany was gaping in awe at the bio-scan readout Elaine just passed down. "'Fourteen year-old native Molmolite woman with a ruby meson concentration in her blood stream of TWO THOUSAND parts per million?!'" the red-haired Avalonian-American read. "'Also showing magical elements in her DNA?!' How's that possible?!"

Elaine sighed. "Can't tell unless we talk to this…wait!"

"What?!"

"She just teleported herself out of Molmol City!"

That made Bethany gape. "She apparated?! That's impossible! Magicals on Earth don't do that sort of thing until they're close to graduating from school!"

"Well, she just did it," Elaine noted. "I'll try to track her down."

The other woman nodded…

* * *

Molmol, Kasi village…

A gentle _pop!_ heralded the arrival of a young teenager in the foyer of a small house. Once she had fully materialized herself, Leida concentrated as she allowed a special cloak of energy to form around her. While she had yet to develop this power enough to allow her to use it without the telltale reddish glow forming over her skin, it was enough to literally mask her from anyone who might have the ability to sense her either through telepathy or any equivalent magical skill like Legilimency. She had used this power on many occasions to sneak out of the Palace to get some time away from her parents and all the staff there so she could do all the things she wanted to do; before her best friend had gone to Japan, Leida always teleported herself into Kaolla's bedroom so she could spend some private time with the young princess.

Remembering the last time she had been close to her best friend…!

Leida's cheeks reddened lightly before she shook her head as she moved to concentrate on the matter at hand. With that, she gently stepped into the darkened living room, reaching out with her own mind to locate either of the two Avalonians…

"Don't move!"

She gasped on hearing something beep ominously, her hands shooting up. "Please don't be mad, Miss Tirtha! I'm trying to protect you!" she cried out.

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"Leida?! What are you doing here?!"

Leida blinked as the foyer light was turned on, and then she slowly turned…

…before she gaped on seeing the current mistress of this home standing on the stairs leading to the upper floor, as naked as the day she was born…and with what clearly was a Lawgiver pistol in one hand, now lowered to her side. On seeing the alien-built weapon, Leida blinked several times as she willed her soul-sheath — as she called her personal protective field against mental detection — away, her jaw dropping in shock as it all hit her.

"Miss Tirtha…you're an _**Avalonian**_?!" she gasped.

Now that she was able to sense the young teenager's emotions — the Elder Mother of the Avalonians on Molmol had been amazed to note that Leida Gan's mind had been a _total blank_ to her while that strange reddish glow had shrouded the body of the Grand Chamberlain's daughter — Tirtha Sapta was quick to detect a heady mix of surprise, delight and relief emanate from the heart of Kaolla Su's childhood playmate. "Yes, I am," she said as she powered off her sidearm before coming down to gently draw Leida into her arms. "What in Lyna's name are you doing here, Leida?! How did you get here anyway?!"

Leida giggled. "I apparated!" she declared as she gazed upon her host.

That made Tirtha gape. "You _**apparated**_?!" she demanded. "How…?!"

Another giggle answered her. "Miss Tirtha, I've been teaching myself magic since I was old enough to read!" she scolded before reluctantly pulling herself away from the older woman. "So where's your master or mistress?! Did the Noukiites come here?!"

Tirtha blinked before she sadly smiled. "My mother WAS my mistress, Leida."

Hearing that made Leida blinked before her eyes teared; she knew how much Tirtha had loved her mother. A second later, she collapsed into the older woman's embrace as she began to sob. At that moment, footfalls gently echoed from above as Tirtha looked up to see her current house guest — who had draped herself in her sari for modesty's sake — come down, a curious look on her face before she gaped on recognizing who had just come for a late-night visit. Tirtha gave Surya a light smile before she moved to gently shush the weeping Leida…

* * *

Minutes later, Leida was in Tirtha's bedroom, a happy grin on her face as she nibbled on some of the wonderful milk chocolate her host's late mother loved to create. Having just joined Tirtha and Sapta was Bethany Mason from Pararakelse and Elaine Kenner from Space Factory #220. The latter was busy holding a hand-held scanner over Leida's face as she gazed on a tricorder in her other hand. Tirtha and Surya were draped now in housecoats; before she beamed over from her apartment, Bethany had slipped on a UCLA track suit. "Wow!" Elaine breathed out. "You've got some serious power inside you, Leida. It's a pity your father won't let you go be formally trained at a school."

"Well, they'd only concentrate on the magical side of my abilities," Leida confessed as she gave the pretty raven-haired, blue-eyed woman in the form-fitting Noukiite pattern clothing an amused look. "Not the other powers I have. I wish I could go to British Columbia so that Major Raeburn's friends could train me. Father wouldn't like it, though…"

That made Elaine blink. "What about Major Raeburn?"

"When she retired from the Canadian Army in 1954, the Protector of All Life established a private school for budding metahumans at her family home in British Columbia, Elaine," Surya stated. "The proviso for all those who would go there to learn how to use their powers is that they would have to join the armed services of the Dominion — or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police — once they fully mastered all their abilities. That would also apply to foreign students as well; they would have to join the armed services of their home nations…" She then sighed. "But since Canada does not recognize Molmol as an independent state…"

"And since the Americans don't care for us possessing our own armed forces, I doubt they'd like the idea of a Molmolite going to train there," Tirtha added as she nibbled on some chocolate of her own. "It's bad enough some people on the island have tried to organize a standing magical army…which is flatly forbidden under ICMC rules."

That made Leida moan. "Oh, Allāh! I forgot!"

"Forgot what?!" Bethany asked.

"Father and Uncle are talking about using the Royal Magical Army against Miss Taeko!"

The adults all blinked on hearing that before the Royal Wizard sighed. "Well, I know of much _easier_ and less _painful_ ways of **_committing suicide_**," she breathed out before nibbling on some the chocolate that Tirtha had brought up from the kitchen. "Idiots…!"

"Are they insane?!" Bethany demanded. "Thoughtmistress-prime Taeko is as powerful as Thoughtmistress-prime Tsukiko or Commander Thompkins! A fight like that…!"

"It's alright, child," Surya then soothed. "I'll speak to the King tomorrow morning and he'll put a stop to any talk about attacking the Hinata House! Doing that sort of thing would guarantee that Kaolla would NEVER be able to return back to Japan!" She then breathed out as she added, "I might have to recommend that he replace Leida's father as well."

That made Leida wince. "Would I have to leave the Palace?" she quietly asked.

The adults all winced in turn on sensing the fear emanating from the young teenager about being asked to move somewhere else. It was understandable, of course; she had lived in the Royal Palace since she was a newborn baby when her father had been an administrative assistant to his predecessor as Grand Chamberlain and had never known any other home. "Maybe the threat of having Lamba fire the _de'ne_ will be enough to make him shut up finally," Tirtha breathed out before she blinked. "Also…!"

"What?" Elaine asked as she finished up the scan of Leida.

The royal governess smiled as she gazed on Kaolla's best friend. "Leida, would you like to go to Japan to live with Kaolla at the Hinata House?"

That made the others gape as Leida's eyes sparkled with delight…

* * *

The Hinata-sō, fifteen minutes later…

"Have Kaolla-ya's best friend come live here?"

"Hai, Taeko-sama," Tirtha replied from Kasi. The Elder Mother of the Avalonians on Molmol was speaking to the new landlady of the Hinata-sō through Yamamoto Eriko's personal dataPADD. The conversation language was Japanese despite the fact that the dataPADDs all came with universal translator systems that could allow people's words to be interpreted in any known language through either visual subtitles on the bottom of the screen or very accurate sound-dubbing that perfectly mimicked the speaker's voice. "Kaolla-chan and Leida-chan have been playmates since both were babies. Unlike most of the people here though, she's not as undisciplined." She then giggled. "But then again, swallowing a small bit of ruby meson from the Windy Desert one day four years ago would do that…even to someone from here!"

"How bad?" Eriko — seated beside Taeko in the former's tent — then asked.

"Tricorder scans of her blood show a count of two thousand parts per million," Elaine Kenner replied. "That's the equivalent level of meson as what the average Yizibajohei would possess after they're Gifted, Eriko. Kaolla's ruby meson count — according to Tāng Wéi — was only fifty-two parts per million. Enough to give her some abilities, but not enough to overcome the influence of the ebony meson in the Kasi Mountains."

"We could just give her a boost of ruby meson," Leida proposed.

"Not while she's on Molmol, Leida-chan," Tirtha cautioned. "And I still would feel far safer having her become an Avalonian through a body-swap. We could even do that for you as well just to be extra cautious," she added as she gazed on Leida.

The younger girl gaped. "I could be Kaolla's bond-mate?!"

Everyone both in Japan and Molmol gaped at her. "Do you want to be Kaolla-chan's bond-mate, Leida-chan?" Eriko gently teased as Taeko giggled.

"Of course I would!" Leida stated. "After all, I gave Kaolla her first big girl kiss!"

"_**YOU DID WHAT?!**_"

That was a wide-eyed Surya Patha. "Yes, I did!" Leida snapped. "And I'll be Kaolla's first time in bed, too!" As the Royal Wizard gave her a scandalized look and all the Avalonians listening in on this nearly fell over laughing, the young genius added, "There's no way I'm letting some _**boy**_ make love to her for her first time! And I KNOW she doesn't like the idea of being married to her own _cousin_, king or no!" As Surya sputtered in disbelief on hearing the young teenager say something like that, Leida then sighed. "If she only wasn't so rough with Keitarō-san over the last year! Not to mention being too young for him!" As people gaped at her, Leida then gazed on Taeko. "Is he really mad at her, Onē-chan?"

The tokkaebi-turned-sorceress lightly nodded. "Yes, he is angry at her, Leida-ya…but he doesn't hate her," she answered. "He does understand deep down what provoked your heart-mate to do all that to him over the last year. And he also understands why she wanted to get away from all the meanies in the Palace, too. But now is NOT the time for Kaolla-ya to bother my brother, even to try to say 'I'm sorry' to him. He needs time away from Kaolla-ya, not to mention Naru-ya, Motoko-ya and Mitsune-ya. There are other problems here as well, but I won't bother you about that right now since it is getting late where you're at and you need to go to bed!" As Leida pouted, Taeko's grey eyes twinkled. "Don't worry about what your silly father is plotting, Leida-ya. Just get all your things packed up and ready to move; you'll come here first thing tomorrow morning!"

Hearing that, Leida whooped with delight as the others grinned…

* * *

Molmol City, the Royal Palace, Monday 22 February (local time: After dawn)…

A sudden, violent jolt caused Amalla Su to scream as she was pitched out of her comfortable bed to land face-first onto the hard floor of her private bedroom. As the crown princess of Molmol moaned, the main door was flung open. "My Princess!" a maid cried out. "You have to get up! Someone's attacking the…!"

A finger tapped the poor woman at the back of her head, causing her to gasp in shock before she passed out. Fortunately, she was caught before splitting her head open on the marble floor beneath her, then was shifted over to a nearby chair before the person who had stunned her walked calmly over to pull Amalla up to her feet. Another tap of a handy sleep spot at the back of the crown princess' head — not to mention a couple taps on her upper back to shut down her metahuman powers temporarily — later, Moroboshi Negako calmly draped the unconscious woman over one shoulder as she walked out of the bedroom.

A couple minutes later, the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū carried the dozing Amalla into the reception hall, where a pale-faced Lamba Lu was now seated on his throne; he had been teleported out of his very own bed by means he didn't begin to understand and — after seeing all the Royal Guards passed out at their posts — he didn't want to anger whatever mad jinnī had just blasted its way into his palace. On seeing the Japanese woman in a black martial arts gi — who looked VERY much like a female version of the Saviour of Earth himself save for appearing older and having a fuller head of hair — approach, he then gargled on seeing who was slung unconscious over her shoulder. "Amalla!" the king screamed out before he reached for a sheathed sword nearby.

He drew out a bouquet of flowers! "Now! Now! Now!" a strange voice called out from nearby, making an already dumbstruck Lamba squeal in shock before he spun around to see a black-haired woman in a red-black-and-grey traditional-looking tunic-and-skirt combination standing at the doorway leading to his private office. On closer look, the young monarch of Molmol was stunned to note that this woman looked like she was Urashima Keitarō's very own twin sister, complete with the same model of reading glasses over her eyes. "Lamba-ssi, you wouldn't wish to do something to hurt my friend, would you?" the stranger then challenged.

"He would not be capable of doing much, Taeko," the woman in black stated before she walked over to drop Amalla unceremoniously onto her own throne. Her eyebrow then twitched on hearing Lamba scream in outrage. "_**SILENCE!**_" she bellowed…which, at THAT close range, nearly caused his eardrums to shatter.

As the young king slumped against his throne after being stunned like that by the ninjutsu grandmaster, the other woman approached as she gave him a barely-veiled look of disgust. "Honestly," she breathed out before her grey eyes glowed…as the whole of the Palace began to quake violently. As Lamba cried out in fright, her eyes then went back to normal as the shaking slowly abated. "Right now, all those cute little magical wards protecting this place from outside attack are destroyed. It'll take quite a while to see them all restored," she calmly stated. As he sputtered at her, she then asked, "Did the Miguk-saram explode one of their rather large bombs near this island back when they were testing them in this area after they finished their war with the Ilbon-saram in 1945? With the way your people have acted since my brother had the ill-fortune to begin interacting with your cousin, I have to really wonder about that!"

That made Lamba gape. "You're…?!"

"Yes, I am," Urashima Taeko declared as her eyes began to glow again, which made Lamba nearly soil his boxer shorts. "I thought I made my point clear to you on Thursday when I sent Kaolla-ya's belongings back to you! I certainly thought that when she came here yesterday, Tsukiko-ya drove the point home when it came to the conditions I set that would allow Kaolla-ya to come back to the Hinata-sō! What happened then?! Your 'grand chamberlain' and your 'royal herald' began to CONSPIRE to launch an ATTACK on the Hinata-sō! Give me ONE good reason I shouldn't repeat what I unleashed on Kyōto in 1603 on your whole _**island**_!"

He blinked. "They did WHAT?!"

"Panda discussed this matter last evening with his brother, Lamba," Negako stated. "That was overheard by Panda's daughter Leida. Acting quite responsibly, Leida reported this to Surya Patha. That was monitored by Yomigawa Tsukiko, who reported same to Taeko. That displeased her very much as you can see here. It also displeases me since I have placed Urashima Keitarō — as he is the friend of my brother and last host — under the direct protection of the Moroboshi Clan of Mutsu. Given that my adopted sister Hiromi now controls fifty of those starships currently in orbit over Earth, do you wish to contemplate what she might do if something or someone ever harmed her brother's friend?"

THAT made him gargle as he turned a sickly grey; his scientific advisers had given him a very detailed description of those starships in the skies overhead…especially the fifty starships painted United Nations blue that had been built by two former kidnap victims of the Ipraedies to defend Earth from possible alien invasion. "B-b-but…!"

"Lamba, you are seen as the king of the people of Molmol," Negako flatly declared. "You have _not_ acted in the best interests of your people since you succeeded Kaolla's father three years ago. You have allowed many of the government officials answerable to you to behave in a manner that has displeased many throughout the Pacific Ocean basin. The various defences which have been enabled by the inhabitants of Molmol's neighbours in the last few days are a direct result of that displeasure. If you continue to allow your subordinates to run amok, more drastic measures will be launched against Molmol." She then leaned close to glare directly into his eyes. "Up to and including the _**Omega Directive**_. You are aware of what that entails, are you not?"

The king croaked out in horror on hearing THAT phrase; to magicals worldwide, the very THREAT of the Omega Directive was enough to cower anyone! "B-b-but…!"

"Be silent and take heed, Lamba," Negako sternly ordered in a cold voice, which made Lamba immediately clam up. "Since Panda Gan appears to be the person who has provoked or encouraged the behaviour I just described to you, he will be punished by having his daughter Leida taken from him and his wife. She will be relocated to Japan where she will reside at the Hinata House alongside Kaolla under Taeko's charge. If he wishes to see his daughter again, Panda will be made to fully comprehend what he has done and why this has caused such a reaction among your neighbours and with the International Conference of Magical Communities as a whole. Furthermore, neither he nor anyone else native to this land will do ANYTHING to attempt to return Leida to Molmol…as I am more than sure such will displease Kaolla. Is that clearly understood?"

Lamba blinked several times as he tried to comprehend that, which made Negako's dark eyes narrow dangerously. "I said…_**is that clearly understood**_?" she asked again…as ki coalesced in her hand to form a blazing katana of pure energy.

The king croaked out before rapidly nodding…

* * *

A half-hour later…

"Oh…my head…!"

"Are you well, My Princess?"

Hearing that concerned voice, Amalla's pale blue eyes fluttered open…

…to allow her to gaze onto the face of Carra Nat. "Carra…?"

Pained sobs then caused the crown princess to looked over…

…before she winced on seeing Panda Gan comforting his wailing wife Darla, who was screaming out for her daughter. As her husband immediately tried to shush his sobbing spouse on noting that the crown princess of Molmol was now awake, Amalla moved to straighten herself — _How on Earth did I wind up **here**?!_ she demanded — before she looked around…and then she paled in stunned shock on seeing the many cracks in the walls and ceiling, not to mention the dishevelled and downcast palace staff assembled there. "What happened…?" she then demanded as she stared in wide-eyed disbelief at Carra.

"Panda and his brother stupidly decided that the honourable arrangement between the King and the Lady Urashima Taeko could not be tolerated, Princess," a familiar — yet much more youthful-sounding than what might have once been expected from the Royal Wizard of Molmol — voice answered from nearby, causing Amalla to gaze wide-eyed at Surya Patha.

On seeing the rejuvenated veteran of Tsukuyomi's War, the crown princess then cringed on seeing the look of barely-restrained FURY burning in Surya's dark eyes as invisible pulses of magic seemed to roll off her like strong waves crashing against a rocky seashore. "What…?"

"The Grand Chamberlain and his brother spoke late last night about mustering the Royal Magical Army to attack the Hinata House in hopes of killing the Lady Taeko for her recent actions against your sister, My Princess," Carra humbly explained. "Master Panda's daughter Leida overheard this. Since she knew of the agreement made between the King and the Lady Taeko, she immediately reported same to my mistress."

"My former mistress sensed what was happening; she does have monitor spells on me to ensure I fully recover from what just happened to me," Surya added. "Naturally given their friendship, my mistress told Lady Taeko about Panda's and Ganda's plot. She came here this morning — accompanied by the Earth Angel herself! — to express her extreme displeasure at what she believed was the King breaking his word to her concerning your sister's return to the Hinata House."

THAT made Amalla gasp in horror before she turned to glare intently at Panda, who was now quaking in shock on having such a secret spoken out in front of the whole court. "You blithering _**idiot**_…!" she hissed out as the air around her seemed to glow with crimson fire. As the assembled crowd — including a still-stunned Lamba Lu, who hadn't said anything himself since Amalla had woken — all gasped in shock on seeing the crown princess' own powers display themselves, she flung her hand out at Panda…

…and literally FRIED him alive with a _**lightning bolt**_!

Stunned silence fell as Amalla gaped in shock at her own hand after she and the others in the room morbidly watched a now-burned Panda collapse to the floor. Fortunately, his still-sobbing wife hadn't been harmed by that blast of energy. As Amalla tried to comprehend what just happened, an amused giggle escaped the witch who had been beside her when she woke up. As people gazed in confusion at Carra, the current apprentice to the Royal Wizard said, "The Lady Negako sensed the blocks on your powers which forced you to use a flute, My Princess. When she stunned you unconscious, she used a…um…"

"Shiatsu," Surya supplied.

The younger witch nodded. "Ah, yeah! She used a shiatsu treatment to help you better make use of your powers," Carra finished. "She'll also give your sister some treatments since she'll be staying at the Hinata House for the time being with the Lady Taeko."

Amalla took a moment to comprehend that before she nodded in understanding. She then blinked on noting that Darla Gan was still sobbing. "Um…?"

"The Lady Taeko — fearing that Panda wouldn't like the idea of his plot being exposed like that — felt it was necessary to remove young Leida from Molmol, Princess," Surya explained. "She will be permitted to stay at the Hinata House for the time being." She then smirked as she came over to whisper into the crown princess' ear, "When she discovered that her daughter was gone, Darla here came to me right away. I told her that her baby was now being held hostage to make sure Panda behaved himself. Once she gets over her sorrow at seeing her family affected by this, I'm more than sure she'll keep her fool husband in line."

Carra — who had automatically raised a noise-suppressant bubble to ensure no one could overhear them — added, "This would make your sister a very happy girl, My Princess." As Amalla gaped in shock at her, the young witch said, "I've heard from Tenna Kan that whenever she's spoken to Princess Kaolla, the fact that she wasn't able to play with Miss Leida was just as hurtful to her as Miss Tirtha being kept away from her."

Taking a moment to consider that, the crown princess nodded…before she turned to stare expectantly at Lamba; Carra's sound-suppression bubble had encompassed him as well. Noting he was not doing anything save gaze at his own hands, Kaolla's silver-haired sister could only moan in disgust before she reached over to a handy sword that she kept close by. Picking it up, she then blinked on sensing something off about said sword. She then looked over…

…before gaping in shock on seeing that she was actually holding the handle of a rather large wooden MALLET of all things! As all the other people in the room stared in stunned surprise and confusion on seeing such a device, Amalla noted a small piece of paper wrapped around the handle near the mallet's large head. Reaching up to take the paper off, she opened it with her free hand to gaze on what was written there…before she giggled in delight:

_Amalla-san,  
Much that I personally never cared for your sister's actions concerning my friend Keitarō over the last year, I have to personally confess that since you are a true example of Molmolite beauty, you definitely deserve to have the same type of weapon to defend you from disrespectful idiots my former classmates back at Tomobiki High School often use.  
This here is the Ultimate Idiot Basher, my personal ki mallet. I had Taeko-san enchant it to ensure you could use it at any time you desire.  
Cheers!  
Moroboshi Ataru  
P.S. I did get the letter you sent to me after I defeated Hensō in the Tag Race last summer. Sorry I didn't reply to you then, but I didn't want to subject a pretty lady like you to Hensō's idiot insecurities and jealousies.  
P.P.S. By the way, you really looked hot in that bikini you wore in that picture you sent me! Even Hiromi-chan and Tariko-chan admit that you'd turn heads anywhere!_

As the crown princess blushed on noting that a world-renowned expert on female pulchritude like _**Moroboshi Ataru**_ had called her "pretty" and "hot," she then stood. Gazing once more at her cousin, she then sighed…before dropping the Ultimate Idiot Basher right on his head! As the people in the reception room gasped in shock on seeing Amalla do that to Lamba — who had been smashed face-first into the floor in front of his throne! — she then cleared her throat before walking over to the still-sobbing Darla. "Darla, I'll ask Tirtha to negotiate your daughter's freedom from Lady Taeko once she gets over to Japan, alright," she then promised, glad that Panda was still unconscious so he wouldn't overhear this. "But given that Kaolla does miss Leida a lot, maybe it's for the best that she's over there now."

Darla — surprised that the crown princess had come to speak to her directly — blinked several times before nodding. "Of course, My Princess…"

"I'm sorry I'm late!"

Everyone turned as running footsteps heralded the arrival of Ganda Gan. As people turned to watch the royal herald race into the room, Amalla's eyebrow then twitched.

_WHAM!_

"Where were YOU when the Palace was being attacked, you lazy idiot?!" Amalla then snarled as she glared wrathfully at a stunned Ganda, who was now crushed under the Idiot Basher right into the rug leading up to the throne from the main doors beside his burned and unconscious brother. "Probably out chasing the girls over in the Seraglio, just like you _**always**_ do when there's any sort of emergency that hits this place!"

"My…Princess…!" he moaned out.

"_**QUIET!**_" she snarled. "If this happens one more time, we'll just cut it off you and you can become their resident _**eunuch**_ since you like being there all the time!"

Many of the men in the room all squeezed their legs together on hearing THAT threat as Amalla stormed out of the reception hall, heading towards her own private office. As she went, she sensed many of the younger women in the hall gaze in appreciation at her. That was understandable; as Amalla just hinted right now, Ganda Gan had made a complete idiot of himself several times in the past few years when it came to anything female, young and beautiful that had the ill-luck to cross his path. That was especially true when it came to the ladies of the Seraglio, Molmol City's red light district…though even there, the prostitutes and escort workers tended to keep the Royal Herald at arm's length because he was simply TOO amorous for their own tastes, not to mention always skipping out on paying for their services!

Immediately, both Surya and Carra followed her into her office, the latter closing and magically sealing the door to ensure no one could barge in uninvited. Once she was alone, Amalla placed the Idiot Basher aside before sitting at her desk. "Surya, is Leida in any danger with Lady Taeko?"

The Royal Wizard smiled. "No, Amalla. Tokkaebi may be very nasty to those who arouse their anger — as was just proven today — but they also grant their favour to those who do good deeds, especially to them personally. Since Lady Taeko was treated so kindly by her adopted brother, she will protect Master Keitarō with all her power in turn. Since Leida acted right away to try to prevent her father from launching an attack on the Hinata House, she has earned the Lady Taeko's favour and protection. She'll be alright."

"Fair enough." Amalla then smiled. "Oh, Surya, could you do me a favour?"

"What do you wish?"

"After you go to Japan, if you have the chance to meet Lady Negako's brother, ask him if he'd like more pictures of me," the crown princess instructed.

Surya blinked as a sweat drop appeared in her hair…

* * *

The Hinata-sō, breakfast (Molmol time: two hours before lunch)…

"Osu!"

Maehara Shinobu perked on hearing that tired voice. "Ohayō, Kiyomi-chan!" she called out as Arai Kiyomi shuffled under the overhang of the yatai she — not to mention several of the Hinata Avalonians — were using to help cook meals for everyone. "You okay?"

The raven-haired tomboy groaned. "Could barely sleep on the damned mattresses we used in the tent," she confessed before moving to get a plate. "I sleep on a futon back at the house. How did you and Moe-chan sleep?" She then leered. "Or did you?"

A tongue was stuck out in turn. "My sex life is none of your business!" Shinobu coyly declared before she scooped soft rice and scrambled eggs onto Kiyomi's plate; given that they both had undergone body-swaps late the previous morning, they had to watch what they ate for the next couple of days. "Besides, since Moe-vayae and I are bonded, we could do it in our dreams, like all bonded Avalonians could! Ne?!" she then asked as she gazed in amusement at the older girls manning the yatai.

Laughter filled the space. "True, we do," Takai Kiko stated. The pretty girl with the shoulder-length brown hair and chestnut eyes was a senior at Hinata High School as well as a friend of Narusegawa Naru's. She didn't attend an after-school juku since she had no intentions of continuing to university. Before Wednesday, she was under orders by her master Tarash dai-Joranth to prepare to offer herself as a potential escort worker at the Sagami Café where Nagashima Rio had worked for over a year. After Taeko had been given her new body on Thursday, Kiko — who was an excellent cook in her own right — offered her services to work as head cook of the Hinata-sō given the massive increase of tenants about to descend on the old hot springs hotel. She was currently not bonded at this time, though she had been sleeping with Hinata High freshman Takahashi Mizuho since they had been finally freed of the DNA loyalty locks in their bodies. "And Kiyomi-chan, Shinobu-chan and Moe-chan were just being considerate towards you and the other girls since you were all sleeping in the same tent."

Kiyomi blinked before she shrugged. "You gotta admit, Sempai, we are curious."

"There's nothing wrong with curiosity, Kiyomi," Mizuho — who also had Tarash as her former master and had always been doted on by him — stated as she handed Shinobu's friend a bowl of miso soup. "Just remember that there are standards of decency that you still have to adhere to."

"She'll be fine, Mizuho," Kiko stated as she gave the other girl a knowing look. "Once her soul fully adjusts to the Te'a, she'll be her normal preppy self."

"Hai, that's true!"

Kiyomi smiled on hearing that support from Kiko and Mizuho before she walked away from the yatai to the communal dining tent that had been set up between the temporary bedrooms for everyone and the extended south wing of the Hinata-sō where the kitchen and dining facility were located. Sitting down by all her other friends, she snared a pair of chopsticks from a nearby holder, then moved to eat…before pausing on seeing a girl sitting alone at the end of the row of picnic tables set up inside the dining tent. "Hey! Who's that?" she asked, pointing.

The others looked at her before they all gazed at what just caught Kiyomi's interest. "She looks a lot like Su," Takagi Reiko stated on noticing the newcomer's olive-brown skin.

"At least she's dressed properly for here," Nakamoto Shizuka mused.

The others looked again. Sure enough, the newcomer — who had silver-grey hair tapered to mid-neck and amber-brown eyes — was dressed in a stylish blouse, cardigan sweater and form-fitting jeans; even in winter, Kaolla Su always dressed in her school seifuku and ran around barefoot when she wasn't in classes…which just reinforced the image of her as a stupid gaijin barbarian to her peers at Hinata Middle School. As she ate a small breakfast, Shinobu's friends were quick to note that she used her chopsticks like she had been born in Japan, which showed she was willing to fit in. "Could she be actually one of the Avalonians on Molmol?" Shimura Mami then asked as the five girls exchanged curious looks.

"No, she's actually Kaolla's old childhood playmate."

Everyone turned as Tamara Su came up to join them. "Her childhood playmate, Tamara-chan?" Kiyomi asked; since they had met the Steel Angel that had been moulded as an older version of the Molmolite princess, Shinobu's friends — while still outraged over Kaolla's violation of Shinobu's privacy when she programmed Tamara's own sister Maehara Makiko with her template's memories on moulding the incomplete Steel Angel as an older replica of the youngest of the Hinata-sō's five original tenants — had found her to be a very nice and welcome change from the brash and wild Kaolla.

"Yeah," Tamara stated. "She's actually one of a very few native Molmolites who aren't affected by the ebony meson in the Kasi Mountains." She winked before whispering, "That's thanks to Kaolla daring Leida — that's her name, Leida Gan — to swallow a small crystal of ruby meson when they were out close to the Windy Desert on a picnic!"

With a giggle, she headed off towards the still-incomplete southwest wing; already, the construction crews were beaming down from Space Factory #319 to board their labors and finish off the exterior work. Shinobu's friends watched her go before they moaned. "Poor girl!" Katō Mika then breathed out. "They're all nuts on that island!"

"Tell me about it."

Everyone turned to see Leida walking over to join them, carrying her breakfast with her. "So you've got ruby meson in your blood, right?" Kiyomi asked as the Molmolite sat down beside her. "You okay with that?"

"Well, it's helped my inventive genius a lot. Not to mention my magic and a few other things, too," Leida said with a wink. "By the way, who or what the heck was that girl who was here just now? She looks like Kaolla does after she undergoes the Crimson Moon transformation. I know she made fembot replicas of herself, but that girl sure as hell didn't sound like one of them to me."

"She's a Steel Angel, Leida-san," Shizuka answered. "Your friend found two incomplete ones in a cave under the Ōgusu-jinja by the east gate of the property. She turned them into adult replicas of herself and Shinobu to make them lovers for Keitarō-sempai."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"**_I — WILL — KILL — HER!_**"

And with that, Leida — who had looked violently incensed on hearing what Kaolla had done — immediately began wolfing down her breakfast, muttering choice obscenities in her native language as she took down each bite. Shinobu's friends all blinked for a moment as they interpreted what the newcomer had said, immediately sensing that Leida was now QUITE jealous of the fact that Kaolla had done something like THAT. They then reached out to touch fingertips.

«She's cool!» Kiyomi pronounced for them all.

The others nodded in agreement as they turned back to their meals…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) _Top Gear_ is the world-famous — though not well-known in America — automotive review show that is hosted these days by the famous BBC journalist, broadcaster and writer **Jeremy Clarkson** (born 1960). According to Wikipedia, the show is the world's most widely watched factual television programme. First created in 1977 and running until 2001, the show was revamped the next year into its current style, which mixes actual reviews on cars with quirky humour, a considerable dose of controversy and a complete disregard for political correctness. The current version of the show is also famous for the mysterious "tame race car driver" known as **The Stig** — whose identity is always masked thanks to the helmet he wears with a reflective visor over his face; he also never speaks a word to anyone who tries to ask him something — that always tests new cars on the show's racing track at a former Royal Canadian Air Force airfield, **Dunsfold Aerodrome**, in County Surrey forty kilometres southwest of downtown London.

2) Translations: **UCLA** — Short for the **University of California, Los Angeles**, one of the ten branches of the public University of California system and one of the most famous universities in the United States; **Jinnī** — A spiritual creature mentioned in the Qur'ān and Islamic mythology who inhabit an unseen world in dimensions beyond the visible universe of humans (this word was later rendered into English as "genie"); **Ilbon-saram** — Japanese people.

3) The special school for metahumans that Major Dean Raeburn founded in the early 1950s was first mentioned in _A Nice Quiet Place_.

4) The **Gifting** (always emphasized with a capital "g") is the time when a young Yizibajohei — usually around age five — is presented before the Great Crystal of Power to receive his/her unique metahuman powers; people native to that planet are not born with special metahuman powers, nor do they inherit same from their parents.

5) The **Ultimate Idiot Basher** is my nickname for Moroboshi Ataru's ki mallet that he normally uses to knock down people like Mendō Shūtarō when they annoy him too much; I always used this term in _The Senior Year_.


	14. Tomobiki's Reaction…And Its Secrets

Space Factory #319, after breakfast…

"So how does it feel, Onē-chan?"

Konno Mitsune groaned in delight as she relaxed in the specially-modified hoverchair that had been brought to her room to give her a chance to move about even if she still couldn't walk under her own power. "This feels nice…even if I really can't feel anything below my breasts right now," the would-be writer confessed with a playful grin before she gazed in appreciation at the young man who had delivered the hoverchair to her. "Dōmo, Kibat-kun."

"Dō itashimashite," Kibat dai-Ragot replied with a polite bow of his head. "Now, you understand how to pilot the chair and all that?"

"Actually, no. I could use some lessons," Mitsune confessed.

"Hai!" the young, bespectacled Avalonian-Niphentaxian hybrid trilled out as he tried not to smack his forehead after being reminded that the older woman had only just come aboard the space station a couple days ago. "Okay, place your left hand on the control pad and let the computer link into your mind."

She did as she was bid. On the pad located at the end of the left handle, a tan light — Mitsune knew that tan was the Sagussan equivalent of what green represented on many places on Earth — flashed. "Now, think of heading to the door," Kibat instructed.

Mitsune concentrated…as the chair began to float away from a place beside her diagnostic bed towards the main door of her recovery room. "Hey! I like this!" she called out as she thought, _Stop!_ "Damn!" she breathed out as the chair halted close to the door. "You think you can build something for me I can use after I get out of here, Kibat-kun?!"

"Do you drive a motorcycle? I could build a hovercycle for you," he offered.

She sighed. "Not really. I'm old enough for a driver's license for either a car or a motorcycle, but I could never afford something like that." Her dark brown eyes then turned down. "Atop that, I'm a borderline alcoholic." Ever since she had woken on the station on Friday morning, she had frequently felt the craving for sake; fortunately for her, Shiina Kaoru had given her a special drug that helped suppress her psychological need for alcohol. It wasn't a permanent solution, though…but given her growing relationship with Sakuramachi Yūko, Mitsune suspected that she would finally get over her addiction with a lot of tender loving care. "I sometimes wonder if I actually suffer from some sort of fetal alcohol syndrome. Baka Aho Tō-san and Baka Aho Kā-san have been drinking since they graduated from high school! There's no way in hell that someone would give me a driver's license."

"Well, hovercycles could be outfitted with a control computer to do the actual driving; sort of like KITT from _Knight Rider_. Did you ever see that show?" At her nod, his grey eyes sparkled behind his glasses. Given how smart this young man was — not to mention the advantages he had, being born in such an industrious and technologically-advanced society as what had existed within the borders of the Union of Phentax Two — it wouldn't surprise Mitsune that Kibat could outdo Kaolla Su in technological know-how ten ways from Sunday. "I could get one set up for you so you can have it when you get back to Earth; I know they're putting in a garage at the Hinata-sō where the parking lot used to be."

That made her blink. "A garage?!"

"Hai. That'll be part of a whole new southwest wing that could hold two hundred people comfortably. It's being installed by Tanya Nikolaevna and her crews now. On the level of the parking lot, there'll be a garage to store motorcycles and other vehicles."

She looked curious. "Why does Tanya have that patronymic?"

He smiled. "Her master did time as senior medical officer for observation posts in eastern Russia before he retired to New Brighthope," he said. Like Tanya Lipińsky and Shiina Kaoru, Kibat dai-Ragot — Mitsune knew that many hybrids like him were considering dropping the prefix honorifics to their family names as many just didn't want to hold any connection to their relatives from Phentax Two anymore — was a native of Phentax Twenty-one, though he and his twin sister Kukawa were born in the colonial capital city of Hovath's Landing. A city, Mitsune grimly knew, that was now effectively a bomb crater thanks to Kibat's father and many of the other leaders of that community. When enforcers of the Church of Lum swept onto the planet to capture the Avalonians on Wednesday during the chaos of the Liberation, people like Tosa odai-Ragot had their slaves and their hybrid children evacuate the city…before detonating a hydrogen bomb at the spaceport to destroy the landing ships as they came into range. Even though he was trying to be chipper and happy, there were flashes of pain in his eyes and he did wear a black armband around his white work shirt sleeve to indicate he was still morning for his father. "When he was on Earth, he called himself 'Nikolaj Vasíl'evič Gógol'.' So when Tanya decided on a patronymic, she honoured Nothrha-sensei by using his alias' given name." He smiled, which made him look more innocent than his actual fourteen years. Despite his being an "outer colony brat," Kibat knew his age since the Niphentaxian calendar — fixed to the orbital period of Phentax Two, which was about twenty hours longer than Earth's — applied everywhere regardless of which colony in the three-star system one lived on; already, a group of hybrids on the factory were working on the necessary conversion equations to allow people like them to celebrate their birthdays via the Terran calendar. "So, want the ten uniCredit tour of this gin joint?" he then offered.

Mitsune laughed…

* * *

Thirty minutes later…

"Hey, Kitsune! You're free!"

"So are you, Naru-chan! Hey, Motoko-chan!" Mitsune said as she guided her chair into one of the lounges near the station's medical unit. Kibat was walking alongside her, holding the would-be writer's free hand. "How's it feel to be a little free?"

"A relief…SEMPAI!"

Mitsune blinked. "What?!"

"_**COVER YOUR BREASTS!**_" the kendō-ka shrilled. "_**HAVE YOU NO SHAME?!**_"

The older woman moaned. "Motoko, we're on a space station full of people — people who gladly are helping _us_ recover from what Toshiko's brother did, by the way! — whose communal sense of personal modesty is much different than ours!" Both Aoyama Motoko and Narusegawa Naru were wearing housecoats to cover themselves; their older co-tenant was still effectively nude even if she did have a blanket covering her hips and groin to hide the high-tech version of a chamber pot that had been affixed to her.

"Kitsune, there's a boy standing right beside you!" Naru snapped.

An annoyed growl responded. "Naru…!"

The Tōdai aspirant shook her head. "It's not that!" she asserted. "But he IS fourteen years old!" Kibat's twin sister Kukawa dai-Ragot had brought Naru's hoverchair to her; she had learned from Kukawa all about her brother. "Have you no sense of decency when it comes to a boy Su-chan's age?!"

"Oh, it's alright, Onē-chan!" Kibat stated with a smile. "Much that I appreciate both you and Motoko-onēchan being concerned for me, I'm not interested in potentially seeking out a child-mate right now! Like you just said, I AM only fourteen!" Here, the raven-haired boy — who was quite effeminate in a way, wearing his hair to a gentle taper between his shoulder blades — crossed his arms as he muttered, "I'm still wondering if I'll have a bond-mate of my own anytime soon…!"

"Stop that!" Mitsune soothed as she gave his shoulder a warm squeeze. "There are bound to be loads of cute people your age for you to feel that special function inside you click in, Kibat-kun. Don't give up hope!"

He grinned as he leaned over to gently kiss her on the lips. "Arigatō," he breathed out before gazing at Naru and Motoko. "Now, if they're any problems with the chairs, you both know how to contact me, do you?" he asked. On seeing them nod, he smiled. "Great! I'm going to head to the main control room to stand my monitoring watch. See ya!"

And with that, he was off. The three wounded tenants of the Hinata-sō watched him go before they relaxed themselves. At that moment, an older woman — also a hybrid, the three Terrans were quick to note thanks to her elegantly-tapered ears — came over from the small bar, a dataPADD in hand. "Ohayō, minna-san," she said with a friendly smile. "I'm Nuy dai-Tsuta. Would you girls like something to snack on?"

"Do you have any sake, Nuy-san?" Mitsune coyly asked.

The beautiful blue-eyed woman — she appeared to be about Naru's age — with the waist-length blonde hair gave her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Mitsune-san, but Kaoru-sensei has forbidden any alcoholic beverages for you," she stated with mock regret; she had sensed that the eldest of the Hinata-sō's original tenants had been joking.

"Oh! I'm going through withdrawal!" the would-be writer moaned out.

Both shared winks before they laughed, which made Naru smile and Motoko roll her eyes in amusement. "Can we have some onigiri, please, Nuy-san?" Naru then asked. "Some sencha, too?"

"Right away!"

With that, she headed over to the small kitchenette fitted to one side of the room and moved to prepare the order from the food replicator there. Soon enough, she came back with a serving tray, setting it on a low table before sitting at a chair. "Here, c'mon over," she beckoned. "You'll get a much better view of Earth from here."

The patients guided their machines over to allow their host to serve them. Once everyone was relaxing, they gazed out the wide view ports at the beautiful planet in the near distance; the Sun was now at their right rear out of sight — the view ports of the station could be shaded to block out the harsh glare when Earth's primary was position on the other side of the planet from the station — and the Moon was off to their right, barely visible from their location. "I would never believe in all my years that I would actually spend time in space," Motoko confessed before sipping her tea. "I can only imagine what it must have been like for Ataru-san after he began interacting with Hensō-san."

"So there are things about the guy you like!" Mitsune teased.

Motoko blushed as Naru gaped at the kendō-ka; the former had often railed about Moroboshi Ataru and his actions in Tomobiki ever since the Tag Race. "Now that I understand what Ataru-san did when he was six and was tricked into making the Promise of Bunka Go-nen, Sempai, what happened afterwards is excusable. Remember, he had Negako-sama's soul in his head as well as Hiromi-san's soul; that ended up splitting his soul in half to allow Tariko-san to become her own being." She then waved to their host. "Besides, look what he did! If it wasn't for him persuading the Lady K'ekhech to convince all her sisters amongst the Flower Youth to support an attack on Phentax Twelve to seize the factory where Nuy-san's mother came from…" Her grey eyes teared. "Tamao…"

Naru nodded. "Iori, too…"

"Not to mention Yūko and all the others," Mitsune added. "Atop that, people like Nuy-chan here…" She then gazed on her host. "Where are you from, Nuy-chan?"

"Same planet all the hybrids on the station came from," Nuy noted. "I actually come from New Brighthope where Yūko, Tanya and Kaoru lived; I was the first hybrid born there. It was because people like me were being born that Kaoru's master decided to have her created to serve as his chief nurse." She sniffed as her eyes misted over. "Otō-san no baka…why did you do that?" she hissed.

The Terrans all gazed sympathetically at her. "How did he die?" Motoko asked.

The hybrid sniffed back her tears. "Oh, he charged those thugs that came into the village!" Nuy snorted. "Didn't even have anything he could use as a weapon; all he had was his fists! Was drunk, too! Laughed his head off at them, telling them how much the agents of the 'one true faith' had screwed up all along and that all the children born in the village in the last two decades were hybrids!" She sipped her tea as Naru reached over to squeeze her shoulder in a show of support. "The leader of the thugs shot him execution-style with his pistol just as the materialiser beam got Okā-san and I to bring us here." She shook her head. "Such a waste…"

"It wasn't a waste, Nuy," Mitsune said. "He did it because he loved you. He realized what was happening and moved to protect you and your mom so you could live free. All those who died on Phentax Twenty-one — and the other colonies, not to mention those places on Phentax Two where people could protect children like you — did it for the same reason, I'll bet." She smirked as she guided her chair over to squeeze Nuy's shoulder. "Besides, he's getting his justice right now."

"How do you know that, Kitsune?" Naru asked.

"Yūko taught me how to tap into the broadcasts of INN, the Intergalactic News Network coming out of Zeiwan; that's a few star systems over from Phentax Two," the would-be writer reported. "A civil war's already broke out. The surviving colony governors are demanding that Ōgi — he's the guy who founded the Church of Lum; he was also the creep that ordered that anti-matter bomb to be buried in Tomobiki to make Ataru-kun bow to Hensō — be removed from office and the whole 'church system' that's been running that planet all these years done away with. A high priestess of the Church of Hollywood, Mirei ot'ndai-Boghar, just formed a provisional government on Phentax Ten and promised she'd force through changes in their constitution to separate church and state like they do it in America. Right now, it's just a small group that supports her on Phentax Ten and Eleven, but she has Noukiite and Yehisrite backing since Ganzo dai-Louc gave a good character reference, so she's got a good chance of taking it all."

"We noticed you've been doing those recordings about our ancestors' history and culture, Mitsune-san," Nuy noted before sipping her tea. "Are you moving to put that out on the Internet on Earth once you get back down to your apartment?"

"I want to sell that to the local papers," Mitsune replied. "But I'm afraid that if I get paid for it, my idiot parents will try to embezzle the money. I'm still legally underage until September this year. Even if I haven't heard from either of them since I left them two years ago, they've always made it clear that any money I earn is theirs to spend, not mine." As Nuy frowned in disgust, the older woman sighed. "Atop me being lazy and too addicted to drinking and gambling, I'm just too scared of their taking away what money I've got so they could spend it on themselves, not me."

"Is there anyone who can help? Maybe one of the Avalonians in Hinata?"

Naru perked. "Hey, that's right! Tsutsumi Makoto works at Mizuho Bank in town! She could help! She wouldn't stiff you since you came to the Hinata-sō to get away from your parents and try to make a better life for yourself."

"Agreed," Motoko affirmed with a nod. "There is no harm in asking."

"Let me," Nuy offered. "Computer!"

"_Working_," the computer chimed back.

"Link to dataPADD of Tsutsumi Makoto, former assistant observer in the observation post based in Hinata City, Japan," the blonde hybrid ordered. "Visual live-time."

"_Acknowledged._"

A moment later, a holographic screen appeared before them, revealing the blonde, blue-eyed bank clerk in her work uniform. "Hey!" Makoto called out with a friendly smile. "You three are looking a lot better than you did on Wednesday! How are you?!"

"Well, other than still quaking in our beds thanks to Karumi's visit yesterday, we're getting there, Makoto-chan," Mitsune called back. "You busy right now?"

"Not really; I won't have to do teller duty for a while since it's always quiet this time of morning." Makoto then gave the would-be writer a warning look. "But if you're trying to buck for a loan so you can go gamble on horse races, you won't get it!"

Laughter filled the lounge. "I'm not worried about that," Mitsune stated. "A new friend of mine up here, Sakuramachi Yūko, proposed I record articles for sale over the Internet to news organizations and publishers about your people's history, culture and all that. But I'm worried about my parents. I won't be twenty until September, so they can still try to get their hands on whatever money I earn. So…"

"You're looking to establish an account with us and want it blocked from any form of embezzlement by your parents, you mean?"

"Hai."

The bank clerk breathed out. "Let me talk to some people down here, then I'll get back to you, Mitsune-san. I'm not sure what your legal situation actually is given you've been living at the Hinata-sō for two years and your parents haven't come after you; after all, you technically ran away from home after you graduated from school around the same time Naru-san moved here. Since people in Japan are normally expected to go to university or vocational college after high school, it would be expected of you to go live on your own." Makoto then hummed. "We also have sisters near Ikebukuro. I could contact one of them to look in on your parents. Make sure they're not planning anything now that it's known we're down here in Hinata and living at the Hinata-sō."

Hearing that, the oldest of the Hinata-sō's original residents nodded. "I'd really appreciate that. I know you guys really don't care for us…"

"That's not true, Kitsune," Makoto cut her off. "Yes, there are a lot of people who don't particularly care for your friends there after all they've done to Keitarō-kun over the last year, but it doesn't mean that we'll be all over you like the plague like Taeko-sama or Karumi-san would gladly be if you give either of them an excuse." As Naru and Motoko winced, Makoto sat back in her chair as she crossed her arms. "I bet you don't know this, but Taeko-sama and Negako-sama paid King Lamba of Molmol a visit early this morning. Nearly brought the Royal Palace down right around the poor man's ears, too."

Naru blinked. "Su-chan's cousin, right?" While she had been annoyed when she learned the truth about the "Indian girl" from Ogasawara Iori, she didn't really hold it against Kaolla…especially now that the cause of the Molmolite princess' complete lack of self-discipline had been revealed.

"Hai. Also her unofficial fiancé, though he's not willing to press it until she's fully comfortable with the idea of marrying him," Makoto affirmed with a nod. "What happened was that late last night, Lamba's grand chamberlain and his royal herald began conspiring to have a magical attack force sent to assault the Hinata-sō in vengeance over what Taeko-sama's done to Kaolla-chan over the last few days."

"What?!" Mitsune snapped as she ignored Motoko shuddering in fear on hearing the new name of the demon of the Cursed Blade. "All Taeko-san's done is send Su-chan's things back to Molmol and made it clear that she won't be allowed back unless her nanny is allowed to come with her to be her legal guardian in Japan! What's wrong with that?!"

"In the eyes of the Molmolites, that's still not cricket," Makoto explained. "Remember, these are the same people who saw all of Kaolla-chan's attacks on Keitarō-kun over the last year as her 'playing' with him, never mind that all her friends here in town secretly _**filmed**_ those incidents to show them on the nightly news back home." As Naru and Motoko gasped on hearing that, the bank clerk added, "Taeko-sama set three conditions for Kaolla-chan to come back to the Hinata-sō." She counted off on her fingers as she explained, "One: All the observers in town — save for one girl who's a trained witch…and one of us now; Negako-sama had her undergo a body-swap on Saturday to get over the ebony meson radiation poisoning — are withdrawn to Molmol and never replaced. Two: Tirtha Sapta comes over to be Kaolla-chan's governess and legal guardian while she's here in Japan. Three: Kaolla-chan does not have anything to do further with Keitarō-kun."

"Those sound pretty reasonable to me," Nuy stated.

"And they were reasonable with Lamba, though he asked Thoughtmistress-prime Yomigawa Tsukiko — Motoko-san can tell you all about her — to keep watch over Kaolla-chan," Makoto affirmed with a nod. "However, as I said, last night, Panda Gan — he's the Grand Chamberlain, the head of Lamba's household staff — began conspiring with his brother towards mustering the Royal Magical Army of Molmol into attacking the Hinata-sō."

"Which is flatly forbidden under the rules of the International Conference of Magical Communities; no community of magical humans can have a standing army," Motoko instantly stated as she crossed her arms; given that members of the Aoyama Shinmei-ryū often associated with the regional Magical Associations in Japan, the young kendō-ka had been given a thorough education concerning international relations between various magical societies. "Atop that, Molmol is not recognized as an independent community with the right to send a representative to Geneva; they've always refused to obey the basic rules of seeking out the formal recognition of the Conference."

"Like they always try to force themselves in the normal world on people regardless of what the rules of diplomacy are, you mean," Naru noted.

"Hai."

"How did Taeko-san find out about this?" Mitsune asked.

"Panda Gan's daughter Leida-chan — she's actually Kaolla-chan's best friend — overhead him and his brother talking, then teleported herself to Tirtha's home in Kasi," Makoto replied. "Tirtha was with the Royal Wizard, Thoughtmistress-prime Surya Patha — she's also one of us now — as they enjoyed some intimate therapy together when Leida-chan came in. Once Tirtha reported what was going on to Taeko-sama, she invited Leida-chan to come live at the Hinata-sō with Kaolla-chan. To cover that departure, Taeko-sama and Negako-sama went to Molmol City early this morning and gave Lamba and his staff a good demonstration of why people should NEVER anger either of them!"

"They didn't kill anyone, did they?!" Naru gasped as Motoko shuddered in horror as she recalled once again all the dark tales of the Great Fire of 1603.

"No, they didn't, Naru-san," the bank clerk affirmed with a shake of the head. "But you have to remember what tokkaebi are like. You do them right, they do you right in return. You do evil, they curse you. Leida-chan tried to avert a war, so Taeko-sama will protect her. Leida-chan's father planned to attack Taeko-sama at the Hinata-sō — which puts all of us at potential risk — so she came down on him and saw to it he was publicly humiliated in front of his king. As for Negako-sama, since none of those she cares for personally were being directly threatened, she had no reason to use lethal force." She smirked. "They're going to have to remodel the whole pal-…"

"Excuse me, Makoto-kun! We need you now!" a male voice echoed from nearby.

"I'll be right there, Sempai!" Makoto called off to her right before sighing. "I'll get back to you about what's going on with your parents, Mitsune-san. Ja ne!"

The link was cut. Silence fell over the lounge as the wounded Terrans and their hybrid host considered that before Nuy reached over to squeeze Mitsune's shoulder. "I'm sure it'll be alright for you, Mitsune-san. Anyhow, I have to prepare for the change of shift in an hour; a lot of people will be coming here. Excuse me."

"Dōmo," Mitsune replied as Naru and Motoko also nodded their thanks.

As Nuy headed back to the counter to prepare for the rush of people coming off duty, the Terrans relaxed as they gazed once more towards Earth, enjoying their tea and rice balls. "I wonder what's going on down in Hinata," Mitsune mused.

"Urashima will seize control of the dorm today," Motoko spat. "Once he does that, his 'sister' will become the new landlady, then he'll go off to be with that tōshi!"

The would-be writer sighed. After she had got done tearing a strip off Naru last night, Dō Karumi had also paid the other wounded tenants a visit…though in Mitsune's case, the Kyoshō alumnus had actually been somewhat civil even if she laid down the law concerning how relations between Mitsune and Keitarō would be from now on. "Karumi's doing the same thing any bonded Avalonian would do if she senses her mate being threatened, Motoko-chan," Mitsune then cautioned. "Tamao-chan would gladly do that with you, remember?" She glanced at Naru. "Ditto with Iori-chan and you, too."

A tired sigh escaped the Tōdai aspirant. "I know," Naru breathed out before shaking her head. "I just don't like him doing that without telling us what he had in mind!"

"What would you've done if he did? Probably freak out and pound him into the floor to make him stop thinking of stabbing Obā-chan in the back like that. Ditto with you," Mitsune then said as she gazed on Motoko, which made the kendō-ka wince. "That might have just been enough to persuade Keitarō-kun to sic the police on you guys. Or, gods forbid, go grab the Yōkatana from where he had it in the Detached Hall and let Taeko-san go crazy on both of you!" As Naru and Motoko turned white on hearing that, the would-be writer breathed out, "Yeah, I didn't like the idea of him being made landlord. Yeah, I wanted him out of there when the deed was sent to him. And yeah, I've stolen from him and caused trouble for him. But if he really hated us, why the hell didn't he go through with evicting us, huh? By the time Obā-chan would've got wind of him doing that, the police would've swept the place clean and we'd all either be in jail or back where we didn't want to be. He didn't do that even if he muttered about it all the time, then let Toshiko and her friends say it out loud to us after he started dating them."

"How could you possibly support this?!" Motoko snapped.

"Because Taeko-san's always clued him in to what we've really felt about living there and how we came to be there," Mitsune stated. "Karumi told me that. Turnabout's fair play, remember? We always intruded on Keitarō-kun's privacy no matter what he was doing for whatever reasons we had, so he got Taeko-san to telepathically spy on all of us in turn." As Naru and Motoko both gasped on hearing that, the would-be writer breathed out, "Yet what did he do? Did he blare out those secrets to everyone who might want to know all the juicy gossip of what was really going on in the Hinata-sō, like the police or anyone else who'd want to see us gone and the dorm turned back into a hotel? No, he didn't…though we sure gave him enough excuses to do that to all of us!"

"I will KILL him!" Motoko snarled.

"And Karumi will kill YOU!" Mitsune flatly warned. "You want to try your luck against a woman with _**sixteen lifetimes**_ of battle experience under her belt?! Who survived a place like _**Kyoshō**_ when she was in middle and high school?! And who managed to stay alive after being trapped behind _blood ki wards_ for _**forty years**_?!"

That made the kendō-ka gargle in horror. "How do you know all that?!" Naru asked.

"Karumi told me," Mitsune answered. "Yūko was there, too. She told me that everything Karumi said was the truth." She sighed. "Karumi made it clear that I had to pay Keitarō-kun back or I'd be turfed out on my ass come the first of April. Which we ALL would have faced hadn't Ataru-kun's family floated a loan to Keitarō-kun to pay for the property taxes. Not even the money I took from him would've gone far to pay off the property taxes for this year! Your dad told you how much it was, right?" At her old schoolmate's nod, the would-be writer smirked. "Karma has a way of biting people in the ass when they least expect it. Even if Tarash didn't shoot us down, the Liberation would have happened anyway and Toshiko and her sisters would still be moving to the Hinata-sō. Once they did that, they'd be there to offer a new body for Karumi once Mayor Takada dropped the bombshell of what Obā-chan did on Keitarō-kun's head. Like it or not, no matter what we might have tried to do to stop it, we wouldn't have got anywhere in trying to keep things the same. Shinobu-chan wouldn't have supported us given how much she cares for Keitarō-kun; atop that, she has her own bond-mate in Moe-chan. Su-chan would probably have still been sent back to Molmol by Taeko-san. Iori-chan and Tamao-chan would be still riding your cases over what you've done to the poor guy. City Hall would still press Keitarō-kun to take ownership of the dorm." She shook her head as she set the empty tea cup down. "Life can't stay still forever, guys. Tarash and his people found that out the hard way on Wednesday. So did we…even if Keitarō-kun had the simple decency to see to it we all got something out of it in turn." She turned her chair around. "I'll see you guys later, okay?"

Neither Naru nor Motoko replied as she guided the chair out of the lounge. As she headed out, Mitsune was quick to see Nuy give her an encouraging look. Nodding in thanks to the support the lounge supervisor just gave her — and privately vowing that she would convince the blonde hybrid to move down to the Hinata-sō with her mother once the Diet voted on the Avalonian Immigration Bill later today — Mitsune then turned her chair down a hallway to head back to her private room…before an accented voice called out, "Give them some time, Miss Mitsune. Miss Naru and Miss Motoko both understand deep down what you, Miss Iori and Miss Tamao are trying to tell them, but their hearts are still screaming out in fear over losing the only real home they've ever had."

Mitsune's head snapped over to allow her to gaze on a beautiful woman appearing to be in her late teens, possessing square-cut blonde hair at the level of her neck and blue-grey eyes peeking out of a well-shaped face for a Westerner; the other woman had been waiting for her just at the entrance of the lounge. After blinking in confusion — she had seen pictures of all the Hinata Avalonians and didn't recognize this girl — for a moment, the would-be writer snapped her fingers. "Maria Eiffel, right?! You were the tsukumogami in the doll that was down in the tunnels under the Hinata-sō!"

"_Oui_," the Avalonian-Frenchwoman replied as she held up a hand. "Here, let me…"

The hand glowed a pretty golden shade as Mitsune felt the hoverchair carry her down the hallway. "Dōmo!" she thanked the other woman. "So what are you doing up here, Maria-chan?"

"Oh, Miss Taeko asked me to come up here to keep an eye on you while she was busy in Yokohama with Mister Keitarō and Miss Karumi getting the ownership of the Hinata House turned over to them," Maria explained. "She was worried about you three, especially after Miss Karumi came up here last night. She really does care for all of you, you know."

Mitsune blinked before her cheeks reddened. "Why…?"

"That's what a tokkaebi does, Miss Mitsune," Maria gently scolded. "You do good, you get a blessing. You do evil, you get cursed. But because she was allowed to become more than just a mere tokkaebi thanks to that awful man who trapped her inside her old body back in 1603, Miss Taeko could actually understand the whole situation that brought all of you to the Hinata House two years ago, then convince Mister Keitarō that you really were good people underneath it all." She then smiled. "He still likes you, you know."

That made the other woman's cheeks redden even more. "Can't understand why…"

"That's because he still believes in what he was taught when he was a child: Always be there to help people when they really need it," Maria stated as they entered Mitsune's room. "Here, just relax; I'll levitate you into the bed, alright?"

Mitsune nodded…and then whooped with delight as Maria's magic gently embraced her and lifted her from the chair, guiding her to lie down on the diagnostic bed. Once she was in place, the transformed sentient bisque doll made sure she was comfortable before removing the towels from her lap and draping the covers over her body. "Yeah, he's always been like that to us, no matter what we did to him in return," the would-be writer admitted as her brown eyes teared. "He was like that to Naru-chan when she stayed there all those years ago because of her leukaemia. Karumi told me how she became the promise girl."

"_Oui_," Maria said before she shifted a chair over to sit down beside her. "Do you want to know what Mister Keitarō was worried about the most with you, Miss Mitsune?"

"What?"

She closed her eyes. "He was afraid that you would be driven so much because of your love of sake and other things to sell yourself to people for money."

That made Mitsune cringe as her face turned white for a moment…and then she breathed out, "Gods! You're kidding me, right?!" After Maria shook her head, the would-be writer moaned. "Shit! Now that I think about all the times I've acted around him, I can see why he'd think that!" She then sighed. "I'm such an idiot…"

"No, you're just a very hurt person, Miss Mitsune," Maria affirmed. "You were hurt because your parents didn't do much to make your childhood nice and happy like parents should always do for their children. You saw other children like Miss Naru have happy times and wanted to have happy times, too…but you never got it. So when Mrs. Hina learned from Miss Naru that you didn't want to live with your parents anymore, she let you come to the Hinata House to be happy. That's what happened to you." She smiled. "Don't worry about it. Yes, he's mad now, but Mister Keitarō just needs some time to get all that anger out of him, then he'll be alright. Miss Karumi, Miss Toshiko and all of Miss Toshiko's friends will help get the anger out of him." She then frowned. "I just hope someone comes to help Mister Ataru get all the anger out of him. He really scared me when he came down to see Mister Keitarō on Friday."

That made Mitsune blink. "Moroboshi Ataru?! He was down at the Hinata-sō?!"

"_Oui_. Miss Tariko and Miss Hiromi were there with him, too. Miss Negako is going to stay there for a while since she and Miss Taeko are friends. Mister Ataru, Miss Tariko and Miss Hiromi will visit every once in a while so they can get the chance to spend time in the hot springs — Mister Keitarō said it was okay — but they'll be on the factory ship most of the time helping all those poor, hurt people now aboard."

Mitsune hummed. "Really…"

That made Maria blink. "What is it?"

An amused look crossed the other woman's face. "Maria-chan, you want to pass on a suggestion to Negako-sama when you see her next?" she then proposed.

The Avalonian-Frenchwoman gazed at her before nodding…

* * *

Yokohama, the Kanagawa District Court building, just before lunch…

"Thank you so much for your help in all this, Wataru-san."

Keitarō's lawyer, Jōjima Wataru, laughed as he shook the younger man's hand. They, as well as Dō Karumi and Urashima Taeko, were standing outside one of the courtrooms. Everyone just stepped out after the judge decided to award ownership of the Hinata-sō to the current landlord due to issues of entrapment, failure to provide for the payment of property taxes and lack of any financial support by the old owner of the property after she retired from management and tricked her grandson into taking her place. "I'll get all the paperwork done and filed with Hinata City Hall by the end of business today. Once you go there tomorrow morning to meet Mayor Takada to start making the arrangements for the other old hotels to be turned over to you, you can concentrate on making good homes for all the people coming down without questions over who actually owns the property. Don't worry about the bill, Keitarō-san; Reigi-san at Toranoseishin Finances told me to send it directly to him. I'll see you all later."

With that, he was off. Silence fell over the two founding members of the Urashima Clan of Hinata and the fiancée to one of them as they considered what just happened before Keitarō breathed out, "Well, that's a relief." As Taeko and Karumi gazed on him, he smirked. "Now comes the real hard part: Actually making lives for ourselves and helping people that might want to live alongside us make lives for themselves."

"Weird as this sounds, it's what Hina wanted deep down," Karumi stated as they headed towards the elevators to head to the ground floor so they could get to the nearest subway stop and ride the trains back to Hinata. "Pity she never really thought it all out. Tamasuke-kun told me how much she just tuned out all the complaints from City Hall and all the business owners when she shut the place down like she did. Did she honestly think she could just do that without understanding what the real consequences were?"

"No, Karumi-ya, she didn't," Taeko answered as a car came and they stepped into it. "All she cared about at the time was giving Naru-ya a place to feel safe so Hina could play 'secret nakōdo' for her and Keitarō-ya. Then Naru-ya convinced Hina to bring Mitsune-ya down from Toshima so Naru-ya could have her friend close by. The old bonds with Motoko-ya's family saw her come next. Hina then was told by her enforcers about Kaolla-ya seeking a nice place to live, then she learned about what Shinobu-ya was going through. If she had really thought it out, Hina would have offered them places to stay but still kept the hotel open to keep generating income. But then…"

"That type of selflessness wasn't her," Karumi muttered as the car stopped on the ground floor and they stepped out. "It always had to be about her desires in the end. Look what she did to Kyōsuke and me!" At Keitarō's curious look, his fiancée added, "That bullshit about her wanting to keep him safe from a tōshi was just that, Kei: Bullshit! Ask Taeko-san! Hina wanted to get her hands on the Hinata-sō so she could have it all to herself!"

"Is that true, Nuna-ya?" he asked.

"Ne, it's true," Taeko breathed out as she gave him an apologetic look while they stepped out of the building and made their way to one of the entrances leading into the Nihon-ōdōri Station on the Minatomirai 21 Line so they could go to Yokohama Station and a transfer to the Keikyū Main Line for a short ride to Kanazawa-Hakkei and another transfer to the Keikyū Zushi Line for Hinata. "I didn't want to burden you with that given how much you were already angry for what she did to Karumi-ya forty years ago. Besides, does it really matter what the motivation actually was now that she's in a coma in Spa and…?"

She then stopped, which made her companions pause. "What?!" Karumi asked as she flexed her wrists to drop some metal chopsticks into her hands.

The tokkaebi-turned-sorceress shushed her before nodding ahead of her and off to her left. "There," she quietly bade.

"C'mon, Okā-san! We have to find Onii-chan!"

"Kanako! Will you stop trying to pull my arm off!"

On hearing those voices, all three gazed over to see a grunting Urashima Kanako yank her panting adopted mother Nanako towards the very set of stairs Keitarō, Taeko and Karumi just used to descend from street level. Given that there was a small rush of people that currently separated Keitarō from his mother and adopted sister, neither Nanako nor Kanako had taken notice of the two people in the well-cut business suits and the twin sister of one in a formal hanbok heading the other way. As soon as both women had disappeared up the stairs, Karumi breathed out, "Someone must have passed the word on to them."

"Most likely one of Kanako-ya's friends in Hinata," Taeko stated as they proceeded to the nearest ticket gate to pay for their fare and head to the platform to board the next train for Yokohama. "She's been trying to keep an eye out for her 'Onii-chan' since he moved out of the house in Hayama, though she's never openly defied her mother when it came to actually coming down to Hinata to look in on him directly."

"Which proves she doesn't really care for me unless it benefits her first," Keitarō noted. "No doubt, that was Baka Obā-san's influence on her."

"You mean like Narusegawa-san and the other girls at the Hinata-sō always treated you, Keitarō?"

All three stopped on hearing that voice before they turned to see two smiling men Keitarō's age standing near the top of the stairs leading to the subway platform. "Hey, strangers!" Keitarō said with a chuckle as Haitani Masayuki and Shirai Kimiaki, his brother rōnin from the Sasaki Seminar, came over. "What the hell are you two doing here?! I haven't seen you…!"

"Since we endured the hell of the Centre Test back in January," Masayuki said as he offered his hand to his friend, which Keitarō took. "We popped in at the Wafū Chabō to see how you were doing, but Haruka-san couldn't tell us much since you were gone."

"We've also been too busy keeping body and soul together as we prepare for actually starting freshman classes," Kimiaki stated after shaking Keitarō's hand before they all headed down the stairs. "We've been meaning to pop by after you got back from Okinawa to look in on you…but when we called Haruka-san, she told us what happened when that seriously gorgeous Toshiko-chan decided to remind all the girls in the Hinata-sō who was the real boss there."

"And then we got a shocking revelation of our own on Wednesday night."

Keitarō blinked…before his jaw dropped. Masayuki and Kimiaki both had private apartments in the Kawasaki Ward of the city of the same name north of Yokohama, which bordered the Ōta Ward of Tōkyō. That part of Japan's ninth largest city was a heavy industrial zone composed of working class housing, which kept rents cheap for two scholastic rōnin who had to concentrate on studying like crazy so they could get past the Centre Test hurdle and apply for university. "You mean…?!"

"There was an observation post with a hundred insanely beautiful women assigned to it not far from where we live," Kimiaki reported. "Not too surprising you didn't hear too much about it; you've been pretty busy down in Hinata with your ladies."

"Which now includes your lovely fiancée and your equally lovely sister," Masayuki stated before he winked playfully at Taeko, who giggled in return. "And may I say, Taeko-sama, it's truly a pleasure to meet Keitarō's beloved 'Nuna-ya' at last."

"Not to mention making your delightful acquaintance as well, Shisai-sama," Kimiaki said as he bowed politely to Karumi. "Keitarō here needs a stern hand — but a caring one as well! — to help him get over what happened in January and press on with his life."

Karumi hummed, which made the portly Kimiaki suddenly tense as her eyes seemed to rake over him for a moment…and then he gulped before she winked at him. "C'mon!" she then urged her fiancé. "Let's go see what's happening with these two losers."

"_**HEY!**_" both successful Centre Test applicants yelped.

Keitarō smirked as Taeko giggled…

* * *

Tomobiki, the Dobu Salada Restaurant near the Shakkō Private Vocational Institute, lunchtime…

"Hey, Katsumi, remind me of something."

"Hmm…what's that, Tazuna?"

"Why in Eternity's Name did they call this place 'Sewer Salad?'"

Hearing that question, the pretty Shakkō freshman with the brown-grey eyes behind reading glasses and the shoulder-length dark brown hair — partially styled in French braids around the back of her head — hummed as she got into the lineup to order something at the popular eatery near the border between Nishitōkyō and Higashikurume, accompanied by her twin sister; unlike Nobushige Katsumi, Tazuna didn't wear glasses and always allowed her hair to flow free. "Personally, I don't know," Katsumi mused as she flipped the page of the book she was reading. "But the food's good here despite the title, so why complain?"

"Hai, true…eh?"

Katsumi blinked before her own empathy picked up a considerable mix of emotions — chief amongst them being anger, fear and determination — emanating from the upper floor of this establishment. She then sighed. "Oh, my!" she breathed out before putting her bookmark where she left off. Slipping the book into the lower pocket of her tunic — in the opinions of all the teenage men of Tomobiki, girls attending Shakkō had the best school uniforms: Scarlet red tunics, white ascots, pink blouses, dark plaid skirts to just above their knees and white berets on their heads; with her uniform, Katsumi wore dark calf-high stockings while Tazuna wore opaque thigh-highs — she then drew out a handkerchief to clean her spectacles. "They do not listen," she mused. "If this is anything like September…"

Tazuna snorted. Both were the adopted daughters of a barren couple who had been assigned as one of the first group of observers to the "holy city" in August. Prior to that, they had lived on a farm on Phentax Fourteen well off the beaten path; Katsumi and Tazuna — then known as Karthan and Toransa dai-Nasand respectively — had been created at the youngest age for bioroids and had lived as normal children even if their parents were steadfastly loyal to the "church of the day." Given that both Katsumi and Tazuna were of the right physical age to fit in as high school students, they were allowed to enter Shakkō at the start of the fall term after "moving in from the country." And — despite the fact that many teenage men in Tomobiki had been simply ga-ga over "Lum" — the Nobushige twins eventually acquired their own small group of passionate followers among their male schoolmates.

Including the one man that they had both made love to on Thursday morning in celebration of their final freedom from slavery…

"Tazuna! Katsumi!"

Both turned as a handsome, slender fellow with effeminate features, shaggy brown hair and dark brown eyes came up to them from the main door. He was dressed in the standard Shakkō boy's uniform of a red blazer jacket, white shirt, red necktie, dark brown slacks and a white beret he was just taking off. "Hey, Misaki!" Tazuna purred as he and Katsumi allowed Shiretoko Misaki to hold them close to him. "Just in time!"

He chuckled as they moved to make their order. After getting a place card from the cashier — these alerted the waitresses as to where the various orders had to go — they headed up to the second floor. Following the twins, Misaki tried not to blush on noting both were totally naked under their skirts and he could see a lot of things that — if he saw them on any normal Terran girl his age in Tomobiki — would normally get him beaten into a coma. While the teachers at Shakkō hadn't cracked down on such a lack of modesty, it was bound to happen; while all the Avalonians in Tomobiki packed Lawgivers for self-defence now, all it would ultimately require was some idiot to push a poor girl all the way into killing said idiot to convince the police to have the alien-built pistols banned.

After all, while the sympathies of most people in Japan were fully on the side of girls like Tazuna and Katsumi, there WERE the REAL perverts out there…

…and no, Misaki didn't count Moroboshi Ataru as one of them.

Amongst the young men his age in Tomobiki, that actually made Tazuna's and Katsumi's shared lover something of an oddity.

But then again, he had been on the front lawn of Tomobiki High School early on Thursday morning…and had seen what Moroboshi Negako had demonstrated there.

"Hey! Shiho! Midori! Chisa! Haruka! Sayaka! Reiji-kun!"

Hearing Tazuna call out, Misaki smiled as he followed the twins over to a large table at the back of the room where five girls and their shared lover currently sat. All of them were in the dark brown business suit-like uniforms of the Taian Commercial Institute, which was located close to Shakkō even if it was a public school; both Shakkō and Taian were dedicated to teaching job-specific skills for people who wished to get into a vocational college for faster entry into the job market. Leading this group were the Amane sisters, Midori and Shiho; they sat to both sides of their shared boyfriend Tokiwa Reiji. Also there were Takamine Chisa and the Kaji sisters Haruka and Sayaka; they had joined Midori and Shiho to enjoy a wonderful night of intimate therapy with Reiji on Thursday in celebration of their freedom. Naturally, Reiji's making love to _**five**_ of the most popular freshmen at Taian earned him the envy of all the men at the school…much to his personal embarrassment; now that he had actually done "it," he now found himself wondering why the heck his peers always harped on that stuff.

"Hey, guys," Reiji called out as all the girls smiled while the Shakkō freshmen sat beside them. "Ready to watch the Tomobiki Follies?"

"What do you mean?" Misaki asked.

"Look there," Shiho — a somewhat cool girl with centre-parted dark brown hair and intelligent brown eyes that reminded Misaki of the character of Ayanami Rei from _Shin Seiki Evangelion_ in a distant way — said as she nodded towards the windows.

Misaki looked…before he moaned. "The Rosebud thing again?!" he wondered.

"Hai," Midori — who was much more outgoing and friendly than her near-twin; she also wore her hair in two stubby ponytails behind her ears — breathed out before she grinned as a waitress came up with their orders. "You know Miyake's friend, don't you?"

"Hyōga Yumi," Tazuna declared with an amused smile. "Has a body I'd love to coat with custard and whipped cream for a night of very thorough sex that would probably trigger my _marei'cha_ urges…and a brain that's been completely on the fritz since Mendō parachuted out of his C-99 the first day of the fall term in September to make all the girls in Tomobiki High go totally nuts over him." As the others ruefully laughed — ever since Thursday, the over three hundred Avalonians in town who currently attended most of the high schools and middle schools in Tomobiki had been quite vocal in expressing their _**true**_ opinions towards the people whose lives had been affected the most by Redet Hensō's "marriage" to Moroboshi Ataru; of course, since Tomobiki High School itself was seen by the Niphentaxians as the "Holy Citadel," no Avalonian had been inserted there as a student — on hearing her comment, she added, "She's also Miyake's best friend from kindergarten, so she'd naturally freak out over what Negako-sama did to the _de'ne_ on Thursday when she did what Ataru-kun asked her to do concerning those pictures."

"So what's this about?" Katsumi asked. "There's Reika-san from Butsumetsu and Haneko-sempai from Sanrinbō sitting with Yumi-san and Shinobu-san…"

"As we all know, the Rosebuds are like most of the people in Tomobiki when it comes to Ataru-kun, Katsumi," Chisa breathed out as she adjusted her reading glasses. "He must submit to the will of others so that — in the case of the Rosebuds — they can continue to fawn over Mendō like they do without any possible threat to that fellow's personal well-being…in their eyes, of course." As Reiji and Misaki snorted in disgust — like many men their age in Tomobiki, they didn't care for the scion of Japan's richest family — the pretty freshman with the stormy grey eyes and the short-cut black hair added, "Back in September, it was because they believed that Ataru-kun was about to drive Hensō out of his life once and for all; Shinobu-san assumed that once Hensō was 'free,' she would go after Mendō. Now it's because Ataru-kun has effectively made it clear that he won't be the town's resident court jester anymore…and now has Negako-sama watching his back. Not to mention Hiromi-san and Tariko-san as…"

"Oh, my!" the tomboyish Sayaka breathed out as her empathy picked up something quite familiar from the ground floor. "What are THEY doing here?!"

The others blinked…

…as a small group of Tomobiki High freshman boys came up the stairs, led by the "Holy Apostles" themselves. "The Rosebuds AND the Stormtroopers?!" the more childish-looking Haruka hissed out. "Since when does THIS happen?!"

"No doubt, they didn't care to be effectively called 'traitors to the human race,'" Shiho mused before she picked up a milkshake and slurped it down.

"It's good to see you again, Haneko-sempai."

People quieted down — even the mixed Taian/Shakkō crowd seated around Reiji and Misaki — on hearing Aisuru Satoshi's voice. "This is a much better set of circumstances than we faced back in September, Satoshi-kun," Ogin Haneko — the undisputed leader of the sophomores at the Sanrinbō Institute and the effective leader of the Rosebuds as a whole — stated as she gazed up on the man known more commonly as "Megane." "Girls, get our friends some seats," she then bade.

Several Sanrinbō freshmen moved to shift chairs over to allow the core quartet of the Stormtroopers to sit at the end of the table being shared by their classmate and her friends; the others who came with them all relaxed at nearby tables. Once they had sat down, Yumi asked, "Why isn't Mendō-san here?"

"And risk losing everyone that works under him if Ataru's relatives demand all the loans Inshin gave his family be repaid?" Shitto "Perm" Kōsuke wondered. "We talked to Mendō in morning study hall. While he can't do anything overt or covert to support us, he does hope we'll find a way to drag Ataru from that bioroid factory once and for all. But given what Negako-san really is…"

Everyone seated nearby all shuddered on hearing _that_ name as Shinobu — who, while not having a cast over her jaw anymore, was still visibly bruised — seemed to shrink in on herself. As Haneko and Yumi gave the Stormtroopers' classmate comforting squeezes on the shoulders, the small crowd of Shakkō and Taian students seated on the other side of the room could only shake their heads. "Are they really THAT nuts?" Misaki hissed out as he warmly gripped his lovers' hands. "They were all there on Thursday when Negako-sama killed those two bastards on the front lawn of…!"

The others shushed him as Chisa Reika — the second prettiest girl currently attending the notorious Butsumetsu High School at the south end of Tomobiki near the Tarōzakura Hill — breathed out, "I don't care to live under the threat of Imperial Special Agent #49, not to mention an unknown tōshi in this Hiromi girl. Has anyone figured out who she once was?! If we can learn that…!"

Megane sighed before snapping his fingers. "Hideyuki!"

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"Oi! Hideyuki!" the Stormtroopers' leader snapped as he turned…

…only to gargle in shock on seeing a tall, slender yet handsome young man with well-styled black hair and dark brown eyes — Mifune Hideyuki, Reiji's and Misaki's lovers all knew; he was a member of Class 1-4 at Tomobiki High and one of Redet Hensō's more passionate fans…though he had not been rated as part of the Holy Apostles or Holy Company — chatting politely with one of the Dobu Salada's servants. Everyone currently attending Shakkō or Taian knew this girl on sight: Sŏ Yŏn'i, a third-generation Zainichi Korean originally from Ōsaka and descent of what today was known as Ryanggang Province in North Korea. She currently attended a private juku in downtown Tomobiki, the Saeng'ya Seminar, as she prepared to write her high school educational equivalency examination to enter full-time studies at a normal school; she had missed out on middle school because of a long and debilitating illness. Fortunately for Yŏn'i — not to mention the other ethnic Koreans now living in Tomobiki — she didn't have to use a _tsūshōmei_ as her official legal name; the residents of this part of Metro Tōkyō had always been far more accepting of those descent of the Land of the Morning Calm than their countrymen.

"_**MIFUNE!**_" Megane screamed out, his glasses glowing as he bolted to his feet. "_**HOW DARE YOU…?!**_"

_CRUNCH!_

Everyone winced on seeing Yŏn'i's foot now buried in the crotch of the Stormtroopers' leader. "Stop disturbing all the customers, you loud-mouthed schnook!" the slender girl with the caramel brown eyes and the cutely-styled dark brown hair — tied off in small ponytails behind her ears as Amane Midori and Kaji Haruka wore their hair — snarled after she had given him a very sharp place-kick. "We're willing to tolerate you lifeless fools meeting here, but there are other people wanting to eat something! Yell out like that again and I'll spare Usāmah bin Lādin the trouble of sending someone here to carry out his _fatwā_ against you all…and KILL YOU MYSELF!"

With that, she stormed downstairs, flashing Hideyuki a more-than-friendly smile before she left the dining hall. Silence followed in her wake…until a pained croak escaped Megane before he collapsed face-first to the floor. As the other members of the Rosebuds and Stormtroopers exchanged stunned looks, Tazuna smirked before she turned to give Shiho a knowing look.

The latter girl nodded…

* * *

An hour later, students streamed out of the Dobu Salada as they returned back to their places of education for afternoon classes. As a still-subdued Shinobu and a painfully-moaning Megane were walked over to the nearest bus stop so they could get back to Tomobiki High before the first bell — the rules concerning students leaving the school campus for lunch were still in effect even if they weren't as rigorously enforced these days as they were back at the start of fall when Mendō Shūtarō formed a "secret peer guidance committee" to help the teachers enforce discipline — Yŏn'i waved them off from the main doors. "Please come again!" she called out before winking playfully at a blushing Hideyuki. She then headed inside. "Ah…that was a relief!"

"Amazing that two such opposite groups as the Rosebuds and the Stormtroopers were able to come together to have a private meeting," one of the other girls who worked at the Dobu Salada, Ŏm Chŏnghwa, mused from her place behind the cash register as she did a total of the last hour's intake. Like Yŏn'i, Chŏnghwa was a third-generation descendant of one of the northern provinces of Korea; born in Fukuoka, her ancestors hailed from Shinŭiju in North P'yŏng'an Province on the Yalu River across from Dāndōng in China. She was also currently a student at Saeng'ya. "I would think after what Negako-sama showed everyone, they would all get the hint."

A sigh answered her. "That would force them to bow to Ataru-kun's wishes, Chŏnghwa-ya," Yŏn'i stated as she gave the tomboyish, tall redhead with the chestnut eyes a knowing smirk. "After all they did to put Ataru-kun down to make sure he would always bow to Hensō, being forced to eat humble pie in turn…!" She then blinked. "I have to go take care of something."

"Hai, Yŏn'i-ya, go ahead."

With that, the brown-haired girl headed to the second floor. Going to the back of the dining area where the washrooms were, she opened a door leading into the main office of the Dobu Salada. Seated at the desk was the current owner of the property, a twenty-something named Yi Kyŏng'ŭn. Possessing purple-shaded hair in a shaggy halo that went to her shoulder blades and royal blue eyes, she was a fifth-generation descendant of Wonsu in Kang'won Province; she herself was from Shimonoseki at the western end of Honshū. "Need to perform some vital functions, Yŏn'i-ya?" she asked as she gave the younger woman a knowing look.

"Hai, Kyŏng'ŭn-a," Yŏn'i said with a nod as she moved to undress.

"Want some help?"

The younger woman shook her head as she gave her boss an appreciative smile. Trying not to smirk, Kyŏng'ŭn rose and stepped out of the office to give Yŏn'i some privacy; the drapes over the windows were always pulled shut due to the rather unique problems the dozen people now working full-time at the Dobu Salada frequently experienced. Sighing in relief as strange flashes of light danced across Yŏn'i's beautiful eyes, the teenager slipped off her panties before moving to sit down where her current employer — and in an odd sense of the term, her elder sister — had been sitting as she ran through the monthly earnings. Tapping a control on the keypad to blank out the screen, Yŏn'i took a breath before reaching into the lower right drawer of the desk to pull out an object that normally had no place in the main office of a small business.

Of course, Yŏn'i doubted that most small businesses in Japan — to say anything of the rest of the planet! — had workers with the unique needs she had.

And which now had to be satiated so she could operate at peak performance for the rest of the day before she would head off for night classes at the Saeng'ya Seminar.

"Hideyuki-kun…my wonderful master…my beautiful owner…"

With a smile, the beautiful gynoid gently pushed the dildo she had retrieved into the nexus between her legs. Deep inside the ultra-complex series of molecular processors that formed the core of her artificial mind, various intimacy programs — already primed and ready to go when she came into close range of the man she wanted to take her so that her security protocols would be locked into place, thus put a full stop to all the many conflicts that had run rampant through her for about a half-year now — clicked in as she began to pant. As the signs of arousal appeared all over her, Yŏn'i gripped the sides of the chair as she felt her hips buck a bit, her memory flashing images of Mifune Hideyuki in her vision as she imagined what it would be like when she got the courage to admit what she was to him and ask him to do something that she hoped he would say "yes" to.

Because if he didn't…!

A shrill cry escaped her as orgasm routines hit her hard, making her body nearly leap off the chair. After a moment of gently thrashing about, Yŏn'i breathed out in relief as she allowed herself to relax, a hand absently reaching for a towel…

…which was placed in her hand. "Here you go, Yŏn'i-ya."

Yŏn'i groaned. "Thanks, Tazuna-chan…"

It hit her.

"Tazuna…?" she eeped as she looked up.

Now seated at the corners of the desk were Nobushige Tazuna and Amane Shiho, both of whom were gazing with concern at her. Noting that — and thanking whoever it was that had programmed her so well that she could recognize such emotional expressions — the gynoid calling herself "Sŏ Yŏn'i" could only blink before she asked, "How…?"

"We're telepaths and empaths, Yŏn'i-ya," Shiho explained. "What you and your sisters here at the Dobu Salada really are became known to us the instant our parents were all assigned here back in August and September." She then lightly smiled. "Relax. We're not here to cause trouble for you and your sisters. We want to help you all."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"You know what we are?!" Yŏn'i asked with a hopeful tone.

On hearing THAT, Tazuna and Shiho blinked…before their eyes widened. "What were you programmed with when you first came on-line?" the former asked.

"Well, I'm actually a replica of Sŏ Yŏn'i. All of us here are the same way with their namesakes. As to what happened to the 'real' me, I can't say; I wasn't programmed with that information," Yŏn'i answered; she had sensed the truth in the visiting Avalonians' words, so she felt no need to hide things now. Besides, they were _**bioroids**_! Logically, they would understand what a gynoid like her was like. "I first came on-line a year ago in Ōsaka. As to who built me or what my basic function was…" She then waved to her crotch as an amused grin crossed her face. "Well, other than this, of course…"

Tazuna giggled as Shiho smiled. "Are you or the others in contact with any sort of controller anywhere?" the latter then asked. "I find it quite hard to believe that two dozen Type 33G intimate companion gynoids from Zeiwan were sent to Earth just to leave you here dangling on the vine without anyone to watch over you, to say anything of leaving your security programs unlocked like that." At Yŏn'i's stunned look, Shiho winked. "Your words concerning Hideyuki-san spoke volumes to us, Yŏn'i-ya."

"Are you all in the same boat?" Tazuna asked.

Their host nodded. "Hai. We all came on-line around the same time. We don't know why we're the way we are or what our primary function is, though we were told right at the start to come here and work at the Dobu Salada — or any of the other restaurants in town for those who live close to Tomobiki High School — to support ourselves." Yŏn'i then sighed before she perked as something Shiho said came back to her. "Zeiwan?! Where's that?!"

"Not very far from our former masters' home planet," the younger Amane sister answered. "It's a world whose robotics experts specialize in the creation of lifelike gynoids and androids like you and the others. It didn't take us too long to realize what you all are. The Type 33G is the most advanced model of intimate companion gynoid on the open market now; the prototypes first came out about three years ago as I recall. The basic cost for someone like you is quite large, which makes what you're doing here — given what you just told us now — all the more mysterious."

"But right now, that's beside the point," Tazuna added. "You're as human as we are, Yŏn'i-ya. And it's theoretically possible for a gynoid like you to become a bioroid like us." She then smiled. "So how about it, sister? Do you want not just to be Hideyuki-kun's personal lover…but his WIFE sometime in the near future?"

Hearing THAT made Yŏn'i's jaw drop in shocked disbelief…

* * *

Tomobiki High School, that moment…

"_**AH-CHOO!**_"

"Bless you, Hideyuki-kun! Are you alright?"

A moan escaped Mifune Hideyuki as he wiped his nose. "Dōmo, Shinobu-chan," he said as he gave Miyake Shinobu an appreciative look. "Someone's talking about me."

She tried to smile; the bruising currently around her jaw and lips hindered that. "Maybe it's Yŏn'i-san," Ataru's former girlfriend offered. "She really likes you."

He blinked before he blushed. "Gods, I hope so…"

* * *

The Dobu Salada…

"To be…like you?"

Yŏn'i was staring wide-eyed at both Tazuna and Shiho. "Hai," the latter said with a nod. "Think about it. If you become like us, you won't have to worry about jabbing that up between your legs anymore." She indicated the Korean-form gynoid's groin in emphasis. "Atop that, once you and Hideyuki-san marry, you can bear his child."

THAT made Yŏn'i gape in shock. "I CAN?!" she yelped as she bolted up.

"Yes, you can," Shiho stated as she and Tazuna shared knowing looks, ignoring the clatter of the dildo as it fell to the floor. "And this offer has no conditions attached to it, either for you or your sisters."

"What we _do_ need is your help," Tazuna then stated.

Yŏn'i blinked. "How so?"

"Remember what just happened on the floor," the elder Nobushige twin said as she thumbed towards the office door. "The Rosebuds and the Stormtroopers getting together to find some way to drag Ataru-kun back here and force him back down to where he was before the whole thing with Queen Elle started. Do you know what could happen if he decides that all the idiots he had to deal with before the turn of the year were a _threat_?!"

"Even someone like Hideyuki-san?" Shiho added.

THAT made Yŏn'i pale in horror. "No…!"

Both Avalonians nodded. "So would you be willing to help us protect your man?" Tazuna wondered. "And — by extension — protect all the idiots in this town from their own stupidity?! Believe me, Yŏn'i-ya, what Negako-sama said on Friday only scratched the _bare surface_ of what Ataru-kun's been through over the past seven weeks and more."

"Not to mention Ataru-kun's sisters," Shiho added. "Since we all know Hideyuki-san is a fan of the tōshi, it's easy to conclude that he was called to today's meeting to try to determine what Hiromi-chan was in her first life back in China."

That made Yŏn'i blink. "What would what Hiromi-san was back then have to do with all this, Tazuna-chan?"

"Because she was Liú Hóng, the Xiàolíng Emperor of the Latter Hàn Dynasty. As he's known here these days, 'Reitei,'" Tazuna stated. "The one person that ALL the tōshi of the Seven Battle Schools of Kantō would flock to in an instant were it ever revealed that he HAS returned in the form of Moroboshi Hiromi. That's over _**ten thousand fighters**_ who would ALL swear allegiance to her if she decided she needed that sort of private army to help her out. Some of which would impress the heck out of Negako-sama and K'ekhech-dono…and that's saying much."

"Should something happen that might upset Hiromi-chan — like her brother being hurt by Hideyuki-san's classmates — and the news ever got out…!" Shiho warned.

On hearing that, Yŏn'i gulped. "Wh-what…?"

"It would be a _bloodbath_," Shiho coldly announced.

"Your man — because he's seen as part of the Stormtroopers — would be a primary target," Tazuna mused. "Do you think you could stop someone like _**Tōtaku Chūei**_?"

"Much less _**Sōsō Mōtoku**_?" Shiho added.

Their host blinked…before she moaned as she slumped back into her chair, the light in her eyes fading slightly as her conscious mind shut down. Gazing on the dazed gynoid, both Tazuna and Shiho breathed out. "She's human," the former noted.

"Who did this to her?" the latter wondered.

"We'll probably need Negako-sama to figure that one out, Shiho."

The other woman nodded in understanding…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) I first introduced the concept of Niphentaxian family names in _Lonely Souls_. With that, I introduced the social ranking name-prefix system you see here with the hybrids Mitsune, Naru and Motoko meet aboard Space Factory #319…not to mention the Niphentaxian observers introduced in Part One. The system goes this way (from top rank to lowest rank):

**ot'ndai** — founder/supreme leader of a church  
**t'ndai** — senior layperson (i.e. the President)  
** odai** — senior priest/priestess  
**edai** — very important layperson (i.e. head of family)  
**bedai** — important layperson  
**sudai** — junior priest/priestess  
**dai** — basic honorific

As an aside, **Mirei ot'ndai-Boghar** is a character from _Lonely Souls_.

2) For those who might not remember the show, _Knight Rider_ was an action-adventures series created by the very prolific producer **Glen A. Larson** (born 1937) — he also created such popular shows as the original _Battlestar Galactica_, _Quincy M.E._, _B.J. and the Bear_, _The Fall Guy_ and _Magnum, P.I._ — that was broadcast on NBC from 1982-86. Originally created as "_The Lone Ranger_ with a car" and themed on "kind of a sci-fi thing, with the soul of a western" (according to Larson), _Knight Rider_ was the story of **Michael Knight** (_né_ **Michael Long**), a former undercover Las Vegas police detective and Vietnam War veteran (played by **David Hasselhoff** [born 1952]) who was shot down in the middle of the desert…then literally given a new life by the reclusive billionaire **Wilton Knight** (played by **Richard Basehart** [1914-84]) to become a roving agent for a not-for-profit organization he called the **Foundation for Law and Government** (**FLAG**), a public justice group that assists people who are victimized by "criminals who operate above the law" (to quote from the monologue read by Basehart in the show's introduction).

Literally "a man who does not exist," Michael was partnered with **KITT** (short for **Knight Industries Two Thousand**) (voiced by **William Daniels** [born 1927]), an automobile shaped in the form of a 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am fitted with numerous features including an extremely durable shell and frame, not to mention an excellent sensory and communication system, the whole controlled by a sentient computer with human-like intelligence (including a dry sense of humour). Michael and KITT were normally brought into situations by the leadership of FLAG where "direct action might provide the only feasible solution," following the theme quoted by Wilton Knight that "**_one man_ can _make a difference_**." Over the course of the series, Michael and KITT confront all sorts of foes. Among them was Wilton Knight's estranged son **Garthe Knight** (also played by Hasselhoff), who created a massive eighteen-wheeler truck known as **Goliath** that was coated with the same indestrucable shell as KITT possessed…not to mention KITT's "elder brother" **KARR** (**Knight Automated Roving Robot**) (voiced by **Peter Cullen** [born 1941] in the vehicle's first appearance in the first season episode "Trust Doesn't Rust" and **Paul Frees** [1920-86] in KARR's second appearance in the third season episode "KITT vs KARR").

The general themes of _Knight Rider_ would be revised in several sequels: A 1991 made-for-television movie, _Knight Rider 2000_, that reunited most of the original cast; a 1994 made-for-television movie, _Knight Rider 2010_, that barely shared anything with the original series save the title (thus is not considered canon by many); a 1997 television series, _Team Knight Rider_, that was a spin-off of the original show; and a 2008 sequel film and accompanying television series that only ran for one season. There is also a theatrical movie that is been in development since 2002, though nothing has yet to be filmed.

3) Translations: **Onigiri** — Literally "honourable handful," this is a ball of rice wrapped around a central filling such as pickled plums (_umeboshi_), chicken teriyaki, salmon or something else quite savory, the ball itself wrapped in _nori_ (a sheet of roasted seaweed); **Sencha** — Literally "green tea," this is the most common flavour of Japanese tea; **Nakōdo** — Literally "go-between person," this is someone who serves as a matchmaker between prospective marriage partners; **Tsūshōmei** — Literally "name of communication" and normally translated as "legal alias," this is a local name that is often adopted (as noted above) by ethnic Koreans in Japan to better let them fit into society.

4) The **Minatomirai 21 Line** is a subway line that was opened up in 2004 as part-and-parcel of the **Minato Mirai** waterfront development project that revitalized the whole of downtown Yokohama. Composed of six stations, this subway line connects Yokohama's Chinatown district with the city's main subway and railway station. The trains of the Minatomirai 21 Line, for the most part, also work on the **Tōkyū Tōyoko Line**, which connects Yokohama with Tōkyō's Shibuya station, thus allowing passengers to continue onward via other services to destinations throughout the local subway and urban railway networks.

5) **Nobushige Katsumi**, her twin sister **Nobushige Tazuna** and their shared lover **Shiretoko Misaki** — their family names are my creation — all were characters from an adult two-part story called "Twins," which was published by the manga artist **Yamatogawa** in his _Aqua Bless_ collection of short stories in 2007. **Amane Midori**, her younger sister **Amane Shiho**, their shared boyfriend **Tokiwa Reiji** and Reiji's other lovers **Takamine Chisa**, **Kaji Haruka** and **Kaji Sayaka** all appeared in the single-volume adult manga _Tayu Tayu_, also created by Yamatogawa-sensei and published in 2009. The first draft of the stories that Yamatogawa-sensei produces always appears in the _Comic Tenma_ monthly anthology whose cover artwork is most often done by Urushihara Satoshi-sensei (as noted in Part One).

6) As noted in Part Five, the Rosebuds were first introduced in the _Yatsura_ anime story "Goodbye Season." It was here that the names of the various high schools in and around Tomobiki were introduced. Like **Tomobiki High School**, the names of the other schools mentioned in that story are — save for one — based on the **Rokuyō** (literally "Six Brilliances"), which are the six day names in the Japanese calendar that indicate what sort of luck one might experience. Those names are as follows:

**Tomobiki** (literally "pulling friends") — On this day, bad things always happen to one's friends. Thus, funerals are NOT held on these days and crematoriums are normally closed. Conversely, this day could also be an excellent day for a wedding.

**Butsumetsu** (literally "death of Buddha") — The unluckiest day of the _rokuyō_. Weddings are best avoided and some Shintō shrines close their offices on this day.

**Taian** (literally "great peace") — The most lucky day of the _rokuyō_. This is a good day for weddings and events like shop openings.

**Shakkō** (literally "red gate") — The Hour of the Horse (from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM) is seen as a lucky time. However, the rest of the day is filled with bad luck.

The last school mentioned here, **Sanrinbō** (literally "three neighbouring collapses"), is derived from an older calendar system than the modern _rokuyō_…though the term has survived to the modern day. This is seen as a VERY bad day; given what the name represents, no construction projects are commenced on a Sanrinbō day.

As an aside, I learned the names of some of the girls who meet with Miyake Shinobu at the **Dobu Salada** restaurant — and yes, this name DOES literally mean "Sewer Salad" according to the AnimEigo translation of this particular episode! — from a former pen-pal of mine from Japan; these girls show up midway through the episode. **Ogin Haneko** (the given name is my creation) is the "long-haired babe" who let a "coup d'êtat" at Sanrinbō (as described by two onlookers) — thus making her the new number one girl — who was sitting to Shinobu's right in the window booth; she was wearing the dark blue uniform with the brown skirt. **Hyōga Yumi** (the family name is my creation) was the girl in the red uniform with the white beret described as the "Number One babe from Shakkō"; she was sitting opposite Haneko. Given what the name "Shakkō" means in Japanese, Yumi's uniform colour is quite easy to understand. And **Chisa Reika** (the family name is my creation) was the girl with the wavy chestnut hair in the tan-brown business suit-like uniform to Yumi's right directly across from Shinobu; she was described as the "Number Two babe from Butsumetsu."

7) The "C-99" Nobushige Tazuna refers to here is based on a real airplane. The **Convair XC-99** was a cargo plane derivative of the **Convair B-36 Peacemaker** strategic bomber first developed in the late 1940s and deployed with elements of the United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command from 1949-59. The only model of the XC-99 (which was never given a name) first flew in 1947 and was delivered to the USAF two years later. The XC-99 — which never went into full production in real life — was taken out of service in 1957 and put on display at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas (these days, the base is called "Kelly Field Annex" as an element of **Joint Base San Antonio**). It was kept there until 2004, where it was moved to **Wright-Patterson Air Force Base** in Dayton, Ohio to become a display at the United States Air Force Museum. Due to problems and costs in resroring the XC-99 to display-level condition — the aircraft was kept outside, thus deteriorating the hull and wings to a very critical level — the prototype was shifted once more in 2011 to **Davis-Monthan Air Force Base** in Tuscon, Arizona to be stored until funds for full restoration could be done.

In the universe of this story, the **Convair C-99 Starlifter** (the name is my creation) did go into limited service during the 1950s as support transports to the B-36 force. When they were retired, the Mendō Clan purchased several of the aircraft to serve as heavy cargo transports, which they make use of to this very day. And while something similar to the Peacemaker was NOT the type of aircraft that Mendō Shūtarō parachuted out of when he appeared in the manga story "Trouble Drops In" (manga episode #23), the fact that the nose of the aircraft closely resembled the nose of a B-36 inspired me to expand on that here.

8) **Mifune Hideyuki** and **Sŏ Yŏn'i** were characters that were meant to appear in an unpublished story of _The Senior Year_ written by Mike Smith called "A Spy Among Us." I base Hideyuki's looks on the man who appears on the second panel of the fourteenth page of "Trouble Drops In."

9) A **Fatwā** is the technical term for a legal judgement or learned interpretation that a qualified jurist or mufti issues pertaining to Islamic law. In the West, many misinterpret this concept as a religiously-based order to kill someone, as demonstrated when the then-Supreme Ruler of Iran, Ayatollah **Ruhollah Khomeini** (1902-89), issued such a decree against the British-Indian author **Salman Rushdie** (born 1947) for the latter's supposed blasphemy of the Prophet Muḥammad in the 1988 novel _The Satanic Verses_. And yes, **Usāmah bin Lādin** (1957-2011) was well known for his various _fatāwā_ (the plural form of "fatwā") while he waged his war against America and her allies as leader of **al-Qā'idah**.

10) The **Secret Peer Guidance Committee** first appeared in the _Yatsura_ manga story "Food Fight" (manga episode #106).

11) The **Type 33G** model of intimate companion android/gynoid first appeared in _A Nice Quiet Place_.


	15. An Incient at the National Diet

Hinata, the Wafū Chabō Hinata, mid-afternoon…

"Mitsune proposed that?"

"_Oui_, Miss Negako," Maria Eiffel stated with a nod before she sipped her tea. She was currently relaxing with Moroboshi Negako at one of the main floor tables. Business was light at this time, though the place had been flocked at lunchtime when construction crews moving to close the Hinata-dōri at the tram station close to Urashima Haruka's establishment came in to enjoy a light repast and some good tea. "Miss Mitsune feels that if you really wish to force the people of Tomobiki to open their eyes as to what's really going on, you have to be quite forthcoming about what Mister Ataru's endured over the last seven weeks."

"Morningstar Plain and the attack on Phentax Twelve, you mean?" Ataru's twin Tariko, now seated beside her sister across from Maria, asked before sipping her tea.

"_Oui_, Miss Tariko. Being what I am, I can sense what happened to him."

"Indeed, it surprises me that you weren't affected at all by such a dark power, Tariko-ya," Urashima Taeko added from the other side of the table from where Negako now sat, with her brother and sister-in-law to her right and Haitani Masayuki and Shirai Kimiaki to her left. She, Keitarō and Karumi had just got back from Kawasaki and a meeting with the leadership of the Avalonians who lived there as arranged by Masayuki and Kimiaki. Several of those girls were currently meeting with their sisters from Hinata at Yamamoto Eriko's cottage to arrange for their mass move to the Hinata-sō over the next week. All the Kawasaki Avalonians had been modelled on natives of the Ukraine, Russia and other eastern European nations; their cover story had them serve as escorts and prostitutes under the control of a local branch of the Pusan-based Ch'ilsŏngp'a, the most powerful of Korea's kkangp'ae gangs. Because of that, they had been forced to live in decrepit apartments in the Kawasaki Ward of its namesake city. They didn't mind that; like many other Avalonians living now in Japan, the girls based in the city north of Yokohama had been seen as "dream foreigners" by their neighbours. However, their current places of residence were all due to be condemned, so they needed a new place to live…as did Masayuki and Kimiaki, who had become lovers with several of those girls since their successfully passing the Centre Test in January; unlike the mixed situation with the Niphentaxians in Hinata, all their countrymen based in Kawasaki had been quite kind and caring to their charges. "Why is that, anyway?"

Tariko shrugged. "Most likely, it's because on Sagussa, _women_ came _**first**_." As the others all laughed, she sipped her tea. "And the Master of Entropy — not to mention Atar himself — is a _**man**_. I guess that would make the Avalonians we saved the equivalent of Ram in a way."

"How's he feeling about that anyway, Tariko-chan?" Masayuki asked.

She sighed. "He's having trouble accepting all that, Sempai. Whenever he gets the chance to sleep, he has pretty nasty nightmares about all the people he killed on Morningstar Plain."

"That is normal for any warrior who faced such a baptism of fire under such sudden circumstances," Negako added. "The addition of the Cyborg's power surprised all of us — even me — when it first emerged during that battle, but given the many strengths that part of Ataru possesses when he allows that power to seize control over him, he came out of that battle physically unscathed. Over time, he will come to accept the Cyborg as simply another tool he could use to defend himself and those he cares for if another threat presents itself."

The others nodded. Tariko had shown their hosts a holographic image of what Ataru looked like when he allowed the deepest and darkest part of his soul full reign over him, taken by a security camera inside the bioroid factory during the Liberation. On seeing that, Kimiaki had succinctly said this: "_I would personally NOT wish to get into any argument with Ataru-kun when he's in THAT sort of mood._" That show of levity had actually made the others laugh despite all of them — even a hardened warrior like Dō Karumi — cringing on seeing such a terrible image. All of them could only imagine what had gone through the minds of the Niphentaxians aboard the bioroid factory when they had fought such a monster on Wednesday. Especially since, as the Cyborg, Ataru bore a variation of the symbol of old Sagussa — a half-gold cloth, half-silver metal windrider (often mistakenly seen as a phoenix by many on other planets who knew of the mysterious race living beyond the Galactic Barrier) with its body over his abdomen and the wings swept up to his shoulder blades — proudly on his front.

"You shouldn't show that unless it becomes really necessary," Karumi advised.

Negako nodded. "Agreed, Karumi. Given what I have learned since I came to Earth, everyone who was abducted by the Urusians to attend Ataru's wedding with Hensō fully accepted what they learned when they gained the chance to mind-meld with Lum, Benten, Oyuki and Ran outside the Onishuto Cathedral. Unfortunately, that was only _one_ class of high school students numbering forty people in total. Tomobiki's current population is less than a hundred thousand. Since those others who were sympathetic to Hensō were not present when the truth of her was revealed by Kyech and Nengmek'i, they have no empirical proof as to what happened on Home Base five years ago, thus could not accept whatever explanation people such as Shinobu gave when Kuohu and Kyekkyek brought them back to Earth. If Nassur or Cinba came to explain things, they still would not gain such proof; neither of them were present on Uru that day, so no one from Class 1-4 would know them by sight. If Hensō herself was allowed to return to Earth, her denial over what she is would convince others that everything that occurred in Onishuto was a gross lie, most likely provoked by Ataru as a way of shaming Hensō in front of her family and peers. Thanks ultimately to the feelings many in Tomobiki possess when it comes to Ataru, it does not surprise me that people such as Satoshi and his peers, much less Shūtarō, are now strongly doubting what happened."

"Which makes Ataru's eventual return to Tomobiki problematic," Keitarō noted in a voice layered with sarcasm. "Since he 'hurt' their 'precious Lum-san,' that 'crime' has to be punished by any means possible. Especially since he now has a massive 'harem' of girls who are willing to do everything possible to make his life pleasant and help ensure 'Lum-san' never returns to Earth again. Doing that would be seen as a defeat in the eyes of Ataru's rivals; the very idea of Moroboshi Ataru openly defying the wishes of his 'betters' — and _succeeding_ in such defiance! — flies against the basic order of things in Tomobiki as those morons see it."

"Damn straight about that," Masayuki emphasized. "Makes you wonder what it'll take to make those morons wake up to the fact that the rest of the world doesn't care a damned bit for what those idiots think is right, especially after the whole oil-theft thing."

The others nodded. "Well, if you so desire, Sŏnbae-nim, you and your siblings are welcome to live here full-time," Taeko offered, her eyes twinkling as Negako gave her an annoyed look. "There are spare cottages near where Keitarō-ya and Karumi-ya live, which will ensure Ataru-ya will not have to endure Naru-ya or Motoko-ya…"

"Maybe not Aoyama, Taeko-san," Karumi cautioned. "Since it's known that Ataru was the last man to make the Promise, Aoyama sees him now as a fellow warrior."

"Surprising to hear that from _her_ of all people," Kimiaki noted as he recalled the couple of times that Aoyama Motoko had gone crazy on a "vile man" like him.

"Hai, true," Keitarō's fiancée conceded. "She does have her good points even if she lets her pride and anger towards her relatives take over all the time. That has to be knocked out of her; if she ever tried that to a Yakuza like some of Haruka's new friends…"

"Never bring a _sword_ to a _**gunfight**_!" Tariko noted.

The others nodded…before a yelp of delight from upstairs caused people to look over. Running footsteps soon heralded the arrival of a crying Terazawa Masako. "The vote! The vote!" Haruka's lover cried out. "They just made the vote!"

"And?!" Keitarō prompted.

"Four hundred and six to seventy-four in the House of Representatives for passage," his cousin said as she came down from her upstairs apartment; since there was only one private party in the Wafū Chabō at this time, only Nagashima Rio was needed on the main floor to keep an eye on things. "That's more than enough to ensure that if the House of Councillors rejects the Immigration Bill, the Representatives can override it and send it straight to His Majesty for promulgation. Doubt that'll happen; according to the commentators, the folks in the upper house are pretty much set on passing it as well before the end of business today. It's gonna be law by sundown; people are saying that His Majesty is at the Diet Building right now to make the official promulgation."

People whooped out in delight as they exchanged handshakes and hugs…just as a wild howl of delight and relief echoed through the open doorway from the direction of the Hinata-sō. As Rio came up from the cashier to share a warm hug and kiss with her bond-mate, Negako gazed on Haruka. "Who were those who voted against the bill, Haruka?"

"Mostly the more senior members of the LDP and the other main parties like Secretary-General Haraguchi," the tea shop matron — who had taken political science courses at Tōdai years ago — answered as she sat beside the ninjutsu grandmaster. "They know that if the Immigration Bill becomes law, there'll be up to fifty million new voters ready to become citizens in a very short while. Once they all get the right to vote, Rio's and Masako's sisters up in space will throw their full support behind the people who just gave them a new home here on Earth…which will help propel a lot of changes in society and government. Since this bill was introduced by Asami's Tigers — who aren't liked by the LDP leaders because they don't bother to bow and scrape to the elders like other people do — on Thursday, a lot of the old-timers just don't want to be seen with rāmen on their faces because the new kids on the block are proving to be more popular than they."

Negako nodded in understanding. "That will have to be monitored."

The others all gazed curiously at her…

* * *

Tōkyō, the National Diet building in Chiyoda Ward, that moment…

"Dietman Asami! Please! A few words about the Immigration Bill!"

Hearing that plea from one of the reporters standing near the entrance of the chambers for the lower house of Japan's national legislature, Asami Chiaki paused before he smiled as he walked over to join them. "I'll be happy to take a few questions at this time," the freshman from Metro Tōkyō District One stated before pointing. "Yes?"

"How do you feel about the level of support the Immigration Bill was shown by all the parties on the floor?" a reporter from NHK asked.

"I can't help but feel great joy at the fact that the people's representatives have risen up with one voice to not just officially welcome those of our countrywomen born within Japanese sovereign territory who were ultimately created thanks to the technology of old Sagussa, but those of our future countrywomen — I hope! — still waiting to land on Earth." As people laughed on hearing that cautionary phrase in his statement, the handsome survivor of the Rwandan genocide added, "As I've known ever since the Tag Race happened last June, our whole world is about to undergo a massive transformation. One of the most fundamental questions about our very existence we asked ourselves for the longest time was this: 'Are we alone in the Universe?' Thanks to the Urusians, that question was answered last summer. True, it was because of a potential invasion of our planet, but that will — hopefully so! — no longer haunt our nightmares thanks to our new countrywomen, both on Earth and still waiting to join us. Yes?"

"Sir, rumour has it that Prime Minister Hatoyama will ask you — as well as Dietman Sengoku and Dietman Yoshimaru — to serve as the official delegation of the National Diet of Japan to the leadership of the Avalonians under President Otako Meinyak aboard the bioroid factory," a JNN reporter stated. "Can you confirm or deny such rumours?"

"I can't confirm something I've not been told about until now," Chiaki smoothly lied as he recalled the meeting yesterday with the Heavenly Sovereign in this very building. _Who leaked that?_ he wondered. "However, if that is the Prime Minister's desire and if such is supported by the government, I will gladly serve in such a capacity."

"As will we," a feisty voice then added.

Everyone turned as the two other members of Asami's Tigers came up to join them. "Would you like to comment on the passing of the Immigration Bill, Dietman Sengoku?" a reporter affiliated with UHB, FNN's local network in Sapporo, asked.

"I would," the lanky, tall dietman stated with a smile. "As you all probably know, I came to the Diet last summer vowing to do everything in my power to make the lives of my constituents in Hiyama, Oshima and Hakodate as prosperous as they could be, just like my father did when he represented that district prior to his death." His smile slipped slightly as people fell quiet out of a show of profound respect for such a loss. "That also means making sure that the population implosion that was threatening the very future of Japan was averted. Thanks very much to the Niphentaxians — as ironic as this sounds to me as it should to you! — that won't happen now."

Laughter escaped the reporters in response to that last statement. "Atop that, we're about to take a massive leap forward technologically as we embrace the stars and move beyond the bounds of our solar system," the physically shortest member of the Tigers then added. "We have no choice but to do this; what happened last summer — as Asami-kun just said — proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt. Because we couldn't match the Urusians and their allies technologically, we needed either a stroke of good luck or the help of a race who didn't care for the Urusians defying treaties they signed in good faith…if they ever DID desire to hold good faith to the Non-Interference Treaty which should have STOPPED the Tag Race before it began! Fortunately for us, both luck and the benevolence of the Avalonians — no doubt in gratitude for what the Moroboshi siblings prompted that saw them all freed — shone our way."

"Speaking of which, would any of you comment on the fact that the representative for Metro Tōkyō District Nineteen — which includes Tomobiki — voted _against_ the bill?" the NHK reporter that had called Chiaki over to the media scrum then asked.

"I would," Chiaki stated. "It's clearly obvious — as was shown in the interview that your co-worker held with Negako-sama on Friday — that many people in Tomobiki seem not to care at all for the fact that _**Moroboshi Ataru**_ has shown himself to be the far better MAN in the long term than those people who slavishly devoted themselves to Redet Hensō while she lived there. Since Ataru-kun's sanity was questionable during the time that Negako-sama, Hiromi-san and Tariko-san shared his brain with him, whatever he might have done to the young ladies of Tomobiki — which, I might add, only went as far as his asking for _names_, _telephone numbers_ and _dates_…all of which is far _**less**_ than what other such men have done with women as note the number of panty-thieves, chikan artists and people who pay for compensated dating to those girls Ataru-kun's age across the nation so they could 'rediscover their youth' as my predecessor as representative for Chiyoda, Minato and Shinjuku did — is easily forgiven in my eyes!" As the reporters all nodded — the scandal that had brought down Sakura Shūichi two years ago had been the perfect thing for a young firebrand like Asami Chiaki to use to propel himself into the public spotlight — he added, "Furthermore, given the disgusting behaviour of Ataru-kun's own parents — as also noted in that interview with Negako-sama — I have to question their ability to actually BE his parents for the remaining time he is underage! I personally would propose that he either be declared an emancipated minor or placed under the legal custody of Negako-sama since she was declared a legal adult on Thursday!"

* * *

Tomobiki, the Moroboshi home…

"_**I WISH I NEVER HAD HIM!**_"

Unseen by Moroboshi Kinshō, passers-by who had been walking close to her home when she had screamed that out all made warding signs with their hands to make whatever dark and evil kami that lurked inside that particular residence leave them be…

* * *

Chiyoda…

"So I have to wonder this," Chiaki added as he slipped off his glasses to gaze on the reporters. "What really _**motivated**_ Dietman Tsuruya's vote today in the chambers?"

"Maybe Ataru-kun asked his granddaughter for a date?" Yoshimaru Hidekawa wondered.

"No, I never did bother Tsuruya-san about a date, Hidekawa-san."

People gasped on hearing that amused voice before they turned…

…to find themselves gaping at the sight of the young man in the formal kimono standing nearby, a small box in one hand. "Ataru-kun!" Chiaki called out.

Immediately, Sengoku Shin'ichirō began to applaud. That prompted his friends to do the same. They were soon followed by the reporters and the others standing in the corridor leading to where the House of Representatives sat. Ataru blushed in embarrassment on seeing that before he waved them down. "Hey! Hey! That's enough!" he pleaded. "Much that I appreciate HONEST shows of thanks — which I NEVER got from the idiots back in Tomobiki — that's embarrassing!" As laughter escaped everyone else, he came over to join Asami's Tigers. "I managed to get away from the bioroid factory for a little bit," the Terran tag race champion stated. "Can't stay for long, though."

"What are your opinions on the Immigration Bill, Ataru-kun?" an ANN reporter asked.

"That it's the right thing to do for Japan…as I hope the counterparts to those who gather here to represent the people of this land in other nations across Earth will also decide on in the next few days," Ataru stated. "As you might know, I always said whenever I openly rejected Hensō's claims of marriage that I wished only to enjoy my youth. After all, I'm only _sixteen_! What business does anyone my age have getting _**married**_?! As is well known, my parents got married when they were _nineteen_, just having entered college! Look what ultimately happened to them, especially after my twin brother died!" He shook his head. "Then again, given how much of a gold-digger Baka Kā-san was — according to Obā-san's diaries — that shouldn't really surprise me! Besides, SHE was the one where I got my heightened sex drive from even before Onē-san got fired into my head! Ask anyone her age in Tomobiki!"

"So is she going to _**grow old and die alone**_, Ataru-kun?" Chiaki coyly asked.

"Damn straight she will!"

* * *

Tomobiki, the Moroboshi home…

Kinshō was now a block of slowly-cracking granite.

"Who will…take care of me…when I'm…old and grey…?"

* * *

Chiyoda…

As the reporters nodded, Ataru then breathed out. "But thanks ultimately to the idiots on Uru who prompted last summer's fun, I lost most of my innocence on Morningstar Plain when I was on Okusei back in January, then saw what was left of that burned away last week. Still, it was ultimately for a much better cause than appeasing a bunch of _**lesser**_ beings on Uru who can't accept the fact that their petty little empire was crushed by the Yizibajohei over two centuries ago, then totally rejected by the common folk on Uru fifty years later." He pointed. "Yes?"

"_Monsieur_ Moroboshi, it's been reported that your sister Hiromi asked the Academician — a master scientist whose total knowledge and creative power outstrips anyone like her in the galaxy — on the planet Yiziba to set up a system of satellites between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn to trigger warp core failures on all Urusian ships which approach our part of the solar system," a TF1 reporter from France stated. "Has that system been set up?"

"It was set up within an hour of her giving the bad news to Rei's uncle Yethis on Okusei," Ataru answered with an amused smirk. "We're monitoring this right now on the bioroid factory. I can report that five ships — including three warships, which have no reason being in our solar system in the damned first place! — have already been destroyed."

People gasped. "What happened to their crews?" the JNN reporter asked.

"We're not the barbarians the Oni are," the Terran tag race champion reported. "All those who were aboard those ships were beamed off and sent via a wormhole right into the waiting hands of the Noukiite Imperial Marines on Tengsei. Once they're all interrogated as to what they were doing where they weren't supposed to be, they'll either be repatriated to Uru or sent on to Hichkyech'eng to spend some time on ice." He grinned. "Which will be quite uncomfortable; it IS cold there this time of year." As people howled with laughter at that bland joke, he pointed. "Yes?"

"Ataru-ssi, there's a rumour now coming out of Tomobiki stating that the Rosebuds and Lum's Stormtroopers met today at the Dobu Salada restaurant to determine some way to bring you down from the bioroid factory and — so the sources state — force you to submit to all their desires to see you returned to your 'proper' place in the 'grand scheme of things' there," Yi Hwayŏng, the SBS reporter who interviewed Negako during the media scrum in front of the Moroboshi home on Friday, stated. "Any comments?"

He smirked. "Why should I care for what _**traitors to the human race**_ think, Hwayŏng-ssi?" he coldly asked, a smile that utterly had no humour in it whatsoever crossing his face. "And yes, I count the Rosebuds as that as much as I do Megane's idiots!"

People gaped. "Why the Rosebuds?!" the NHK reporter asked.

"It's a simple equation: The Rosebuds support Mendō, Mendō supports Hensō," Ataru stated. "That makes them traitors to the human race _by association_ in my eyes. Those girls have never once realized that Mendō has always played up on their attraction to him — his wealth, his good looks and his suave behaviour — as a way to make him appear all the more attractive to _**Hensō**_ in the end. He NEVER — in the all the time Hensō was living at my parents' house — accepted the fact that she wanted _me_, not him. And please, don't get me started on what his _real_ feelings are for people like Ogin Haneko!" He shook his head. "And this is a guy with a virtual ARMOURED DIVISION and in-house AIR FORCE of paramilitary troops — not to mention a REGIMENT of bodyguards — ready to do anything he wants?! And these people are all financed by money MY family loans his family?!"

"Will you do as Negako-sama threatened on Friday?" the JNN reporter asked.

"No. He hasn't done anything stupid since then — even if, no doubt, he supported that little meeting between Ogin's idiots and Megane's goons at the Dobu Salada — so he can keep his toy soldiers. For the time being," Ataru coldly stated. "I'm sure his grandfather will keep him in line. After all, Ojii-san has to think first about the future of the Mendō Conglomerate; that's his responsibility as its current chairman and chief executive officer. Besides, if the Avalonians start to suspect they're NOT a good company to do business with…" He shrugged. "Well, they'll be left to wither on the vine, I suppose."

People laughed on hearing that…

* * *

Tomobiki High School, that moment…

"No way…!"

"Holy shit…!"

"He's got you by the balls, man!"

"How can Ataru-kun be so cruel?!"

"You're traitors to the human race to him, Momoe-chan! That's all the excuse he needs! No thanks to Megane and his idiots…!"

"**_WHAT?!_**"

"Shut up, Megane! Hideyuki-kun's right! If you and your morons hadn't pulled that stunt with the space-taxi last summer, we wouldn't BE in this mess now!"

"_**HOW DARE YOU…?!**_"

_WHAM!_

"…speak out…against Lum-san…?"

"Mendō-san, what are you going to do?"

Sitting at his desk as he watched his hated rival parade like some arrogant peacock in front of the cameras, Mendō Shūtarō snarled as he tightly gripped his officer's sword, the outrage he felt at the threat Moroboshi Ataru had just publicly delivered to him causing a faint battle aura to form around his body. Megane — who had just been smashed down to the floor thanks to several of his female classmates — had been threatening all sorts of divine retribution on Ataru for calling him and his fellow Stormtroopers "traitors to the human race." As everyone in Class 1-4 now knew, that was a practical blatant invitation to people such as the maniacs in al-Qā'idah to come to Tomobiki and seek "justice" for their attempt at trying to win the attention of one Redet Hensō…whom many here still saw as "Redet Lum" despite all their having mind-melded with the Oni-turned-Avalonian university student almost two months ago outside the Onishuto Cathedral on Uru. Regardless of which, most of the class — both the boys and the girls — were now quaking in outrage on noting that Ataru had effectively told them all off in such a public forum.

There were, ironically, those who didn't follow their peers' example.

At her desk near the head of the room by the front doors of the class, Class 1-4's only publicly-outed homosexual member, Tsuruya Rumiko, could only shake her head at the sheer stupidity of most of her classmates and schoolmates. Being the way she was, she simply didn't care at all for Mendō…and had accepted what had been revealed about Hensō two months ago as rock-solid fact. Besides, given that the Avalonians were all _**bisexual**_, the raven-haired girl with the wise brown eyes behind reading glasses — who had become quite frustrated over the last few months at the fact that there was NO ONE in Tomobiki High School who was willing to explore their sexuality with her; _Honestly!_ she often railed to herself, _Do all the idiot girls in this place plan to be_ **nuns**_?!_ — could only thank Ataru and his sisters for what they did to free such beauties from slavery and allow them to move _en masse_ to Earth.

At her desk near where Ataru normally sat, Miyake Shinobu remained silent as she gazed nowhere in particular. The suddenness of his rejection of their long friendship and brief relationship — backed up by Negako putting her down so easily on Thursday — had taken a lot of the passion she had once had out of her very soul. Besides, Shinobu had been a founding member of the Rosebuds — it was she who contacted people like Hyōga Yumi and Ogin Haneko to get their help in making sure Ataru would never force Hensō out of his life — back in September. Being publicly tarred by Ataru as one of the "traitors to the human race" now put HER under threat from al-Qā'idah and other such groups. Shinobu knew that while she could use her strength to defend herself, she could NOT resist _bullets_…to say anything of what a _**suicide bomber**_ could do to her!

Mifune Hideyuki was busy scanning through copies of _Exotic Martial Arts Monthly_ — the primary magazine that covered the tōshi of the Seven Battle Schools of Kantō — as he tried to determine who Ataru's adopted sister Hiromi had been in her first life. It wasn't because he wanted to help Megane and his people try to put Ataru down; unlike most of the members of Class 1-4, he fully accepted Moroboshi Negako's explanation of her brother's new combat skills on Thursday morning here at Tomobiki High School…and, given his growing attraction towards one Sŏ Yŏn'i, he was discovering that he could have a life for himself beyond being an associate member of Lum's Stormtroopers. Still, discovering what Hiromi had once been was hard; unlike other tōshi, the new matriarch of the Moroboshi Clan of Mutsu wrote her name using the hiragana and kanji combination **ひろ美**, which didn't give him a damned clue as to who she might have been eighteen centuries ago. Yes, the Dragonspeaker's dragon friend had called Hiromi's past-self 'Liú Hóng' when they were all on Uru…but the potential kanji combinations for that particular name were many in Mandarin, which was a language Hideyuki didn't speak!

And at her desk near the windows at the back of the room, a plain-looking girl named Inu Chigaiko — a forward on the Tomobiki High girls basketball team, though she was now contemplating quitting — was busy texting her older sister Fuchiko over at Butsumetsu High, a smile on her face as she dreamt of the day she would become Moroboshi Ataru's wife…!

* * *

Chiyoda…

"Onii-san!"

Ataru turned as a female near-twin of his in a beautiful kimono came up from the direction of the Central Hall. "Hey, Hiromi!" he said as Moroboshi Hiromi moved to embrace him from one side, leaning over to gently kiss her on the cheek.

People beamed at the sight of Terran tag race champion being so public with his affections towards his adopted sister. After they shared a knowing look, Hiromi then gazed on the assembled reporters. "Forgive me, good heralds, for interrupting your time with the noble Black Dragon who discovered who he truthfully was in the Land of the Hutu sixteen years ago…" — she ignored the look of total surprise on Asami Chiaki's face on her public acknowledgement of what he had endured when he was a young man — "…not to mention his fellow political warriors who have joined him in sworn oath-brotherhood within these hallowed halls…" — her saying THAT made Sengoku Shin'ichirō and Yoshimaru Hidekawa madly blush on hearing her equate their alliance with Chiaki as the spiritual equivalent of the fighting alliance the legendary "Brothers of the Peach Grove" Liú Bèi, Guān Yǔ and Zhāng Fēi formed as described in _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_ — "…but the Heavenly Sovereign — who patiently awaits the decision of the noble Councillors of Japan when it comes to the bill concerning my many sisters up in space and their future within this ancient land — desires Onii-san and I to attend him within his chambers here. Would you all come with us, please? I think you would like to see this as well." To the dietmen. "You as well, Master Chiaki, Master Shin'ichirō, Master Hidekawa! Come!"

With that, everyone headed off towards the central hall…

…just as a wild series of shouts echoed from nearby. "_**HEY! STOP THAT MAN!**_"

"_**HE'S GOT A KNIFE!**_"

"_**HE'S HEADING RIGHT FOR DIETMAN ASAMI AND ATARU-SAN!**_"

"**_CALL THE GUARDS!_**"

Ataru's and Hiromi's heads snapped around…

…as a wild scream of rage heralded the lunge of an elderly man in the same cut of business suit that was the standard mode of dress for dietmen in this building. To the disbelief of Chiaki and his friends — to say anything of Ataru and Hiromi, much less the reporters — Tsuruya Nobuhiro had a large switchblade knife in hand!

* * *

Tomobiki…

"_**OJII-SAN!**_" Tsuruya Rumiko screamed out in horror…

* * *

Chiyoda…

It happened almost all at once.

Howling with wide-eyed fury, Tsuruya lashed out with his knife…

…just as an arm sheathed in a black kimono sleeve got in the way of that thrust!

Ataru tossed up the case holding the Order of the Rising Sun medal he was presented by Emperor Akihito months ago into the air to free his left hand…

…as ice-cold anti-ki formed over his palm.

"_**KONTŌ!**_"

A second later, an agonizing shriek of pain bellowed through the building!

* * *

Tomobiki…

"The _soulsword_…?!" a wide-eyed Shinobu croaked out in disbelief.

She then turned to gaze in horror at Rumiko as the smartest girl in the class dropped to her knees, her hands flying up to her mouth and her eyes filled with tears.

It was more than understandable.

The soulsword was the deadliest manoeuvre in Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū.

One strike with the edge killed automatically.

One strike with the sides of the blade put the victim into a permanent coma.

Rumiko's grandfather was as good as dead…

…at the hands of _**Moroboshi Ataru**_!

The last host of Earth's first true artificial intelligence.

As a cold chill fell over the class, Shinobu could only shake her head while whimpering echoed around her from many of her female classmates as they gazed on the living demonstration of what had really happened to their infamous _iinchō_.

While many around her would probably still deny this, it was proven now in the eyes of Ataru's former girlfriend.

Everything Negako said about her brother and last host on Thursday morning was _true_!

As to what that would mean for everyone else in Tomobiki…!

"Ataru-kun…!"

* * *

Chiyoda…

Ataru grunted as he felt the knife dig into the flesh of his lower right arm, slightly nicking both his ulna and radius. At the same time, the burning blade of anti-ki he had formed in his left hand cut DEEP into the back of Tsuruya's skull, causing the elderly dietman's body to freeze for a second before he collapsed to the floor…

…just as a miasmic cloud seemed to EXPLODE from all points of his head, that forming a semi-humanoid figure — and a female one at that, dressed in what the wide-eyed onlookers believed were the robes of a Shintō shrine maiden — in the air well above the floor. As that apparition screamed out in frustrated rage at being denied the chance to strike down its target, a pair of glowing hands levelled on it.

"_**SEISHIN-HASAI HI-KŌSEN!**_"

Cutting beams of ugly green energy exploded from Hiromi's palms to shear through the ghostly apparition that had possessed the dietman from Metro Tōkyō District Nineteen, shredding it with the same unyielding force that a chainsaw would demonstrate when being employed against a thin tree. As the creature cried out in mortal pain, it then began to fade from the burning power of the reborn emperor's attack.

In a second, it was no more…

* * *

Tomobiki…

A howling scream of agony escaped Chigaiko as something seemed to explode from every point on her body, causing the windows of Class 1-4 to shatter and nearby desks to be upended, pitching several of the basketball forward's classmates atop each other! As people instantly ducked from such a burst of energy, a wide-eyed Rumiko remained in place as she stared in stunned horror at the sight of her grandfather's image on the television screen, he being shown lying in an unmoving heap on the floor of the National Diet Building at Ataru's feet after the latter had felled the man with a soulsword thrust right into his skull.

Given what had just risen from his body…!

"Ojii-san was POSSESSED…?!" she croaked out in relief as she recalled Negako's words on Thursday morning concerning the ONLY time the soulsword would _never_ kill…

* * *

Chiyoda…

"**_ONII-SAN!_**"

Before Hiromi to get to Ataru's side, a man appearing to be about the same age as Asami Chiaki — though draped in a black zhíduō — was moving to gently extract the knife from the younger man's arm. "It's alright, Hiromi-san," he stated with a kind voice as he gazed on Ataru's sister, his free hand moving to staunch the blood now escaping that wound. "The knife didn't strike any of the major arteries. Can someone give me a…?" He then smirked as a handkerchief was handed to him by a smirking Asami Chiaki. "Dōmo, Chiaki-san. It's good to see you again."

"I'll reciprocate that, Yō-san," Chiaki stated as Hinomura Yō moved to expertly tie down the handkerchief. "Someone summon medical assistance!" he then barked out.

As the Diet police force sprinted off to obey, Ataru grimaced. "Doesn't hurt as bad as I'd think it would," he mused. "Move your hand there, Onii-chan! Let me…"

As Yō backed off, Ataru gripped his right arm with his left hand over where the handkerchief was now tied off. Instantly, burning orange ki shrouded the wounded limb as the Terran tag champion growled out in agony…before it finally faded. As he breathed out in relief, Ataru then pulled off the handkerchief…to reveal an arm that now had a flushed pink scar where the knife had struck home. "Sorry about that, Asami-san," he then said as he handed the blood-soaked cloth back to Chiaki.

"I've been through much worse, Ataru-kun," the dietman from Tōkyō noted with an amused chuckle. "I didn't realize you and Yō-san knew each other."

"I had the privilege to be one of the two witnesses that day over ten years ago when Ataru-kun here became the last man to make the Promise of Bunka Go-nen," the famous young potter from the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture stated. "I just came here from China and a private exhibition," he then added as he noted the cameras aim his way. As he smiled — which made many of the women in the crowd instantly perk on noting how stunningly _**handsome**_ the man was — he added, "Naturally, I wanted to be here to witness a moment of history."

"I pray those good people in the Middle Kingdom were appreciative of your many artistic talents, Master Yō," Hiromi then mused as she handed Ataru the case bearing his Order of the Rising Sun medal — which had been caught by Sengoku Shin'ichirō when all the ruckus began — back to him, she giving Yō a knowing look in return…

* * *

Off the coast of Shizuoka Prefecture…

"Mother Tiger…?"

"Calm down!" Fú Fūnglīng snapped as she watched the NHK live-feed on the main monitor in the control room of the _Hākhóilùhng_. The former H.M.S. _Valiant_ — known more commonly as the "Dragon Submarine" — had been secretly purchased by the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì after her decommissioning from the Royal Navy in 1994 to become the mobile forward base of the largest of mainland China's Triads; refitting her with a new reactor and new weapons systems had been costly but more than worth it. "Freeman's doing the right thing when it comes to the last host of the Earth Angel, to say anything of his old middle school classmate. The Haaulìhng Emperor was correct in saying that Asami Chiaki is a dragon; how else would he — much less his good friend who seized control of the Sagara Alliance two years ago — have been able to survive _**Rwanda**_ of all places?!"

An awed hush fell over the control room of the submarine quietly cruising at periscope depth off the southern tip of the Izu Peninsula as the others gazed on the monitor. "To believe we lived to see a day like this," the submarine's nominal first officer stated in a voice full of emotion. "Not only the fulfilment of the Promise of 4506 to see the Earth Angel become her own being…but the rebirth of the _**Haaulìhng Emperor**_, too?!"

"Aye," the aged matriarch and the woman who had transformed Hinomura Yō into Crying Freeman breathed out. "We are strong…but the _deuksih_ are far stronger, each of them propelled by the eighteen centuries of life — always soaked in battle! — that they gained since the days of the fall of Hon and the rise of Suhk, Ngaih and Ngh." She shook her head as the idea of facing off against such warriors sent chills down her spine; not even those trained in the ancient ways of Síulàm could match such accumulated experience…as much as they could NEVER match the accumulated experience possessed now by Moroboshi Negako and passed on to her adopted siblings. "Besides, the Immortal Master helped our ancestors flee the Temple in 4339 when that bastard Léi Zeichìhng came to force them to bow to his false dynasty! It has always been known that the Earth Angel is the Immortal One's spiritual child. The debt we owe Master Hosan — and his daughter by extension — even to this day can _**never**_ be repaid."

The others nodded in grim understanding…

* * *

Chiyoda…

"What…happened…?"

Hearing that pained voice, Ataru looked over. "Get the medics on that guy!" he barked out as he pointed at the slowly-awakening Tsuruya Nobuhiro. "He was possessed by some sort of curse! We'll need someone to give him a spiritual examination…!"

"There is no need to concern yourself with him, Ataru."

People gasped on hearing that voice before they turned…

"Negako-sama!" Yō called out.

…as a woman dressed in a black martial arts gi — her black belt now possessing the golden kanji **地** at its ends — knelt beside the moaning Tsuruya Nobuhiro, her fingers reaching out to gently probe the shiatsu points on the back of his neck. "Remain still, Nobuhiro," Negako calmly instructed; she had been beamed over from Hinata via the _Yamato_ — the future Japanese starship was in direct holding orbit over the Imperial Palace in Tōkyō — when she saw what was happening on the television at the Wafū Chabō Hinata. "You were possessed by the power of the curse that was unleashed on Hirota Matabei and his would-be paramour forty-five years ago. It appears that the soul-replica of Ezakiya Nyōko that was forged to control that curse did not care to have Ataru become so popular _**outside**_ the borders of Tomobiki High School."

"Who is Hirota Matabei?!" Chiaki demanded.

"The Red Cloak, Master Chiaki," Hiromi answered. "A pathetic waste of a man who is an alumnus of Tomobiki High; he attended there many years ago as Onē-sama just stated. He always dressed in a mask and cape, popping out of the shadows time and time again to frighten anyone who had the ill-luck to cross his path. Unfortunately, he one day targeted a budding witch named Ezakiya Nyōko, who cursed him by putting a geas on his then-girlfriend…which made ALL the other people who attended that school — staff and student alike — FORGET HER VERY NAME!" As people gasped in horror on hearing that, the reborn emperor added, "The poor woman died of a broken heart before she graduated; because human beings are social creatures, the fact that no one save her beloved remembered her name effectively chased away what friends she had before she was cursed from her side to the point where she simply lost the very will to live because no one liked her anymore." She closed her eyes. "But what made it worse was this: Mistress Nyōko — may she be damned to the lowest pit in Hell for all the misery she ultimately unleashed! — keyed the magic of her curse into the mana node Onē-sama and Kyech-san needed to destroy that anti-matter bomb on Wednesday. Since Master Matabei makes it a habit of visiting his alma mater every few years to remind people of what he once was, some poor man — usually the most unpopular fellow attending the school at the time — is instantly targeted by the geas, which ultimately ends up killing some poor unfortunate woman…who usually was the only true friend or lover the geas' new target possessed."

People around her paled on hearing something as ghastly as that. "Has he been back to the school recently?" Shin'ichirō immediately demanded.

"Aye, he has been. On Hallowe'en evening last to be exact. And yet again, upon his coming to the school, the geas activated," Hiromi stated. "With my brother as the intended victim. However, the geas couldn't strike at the most obvious target to break Onii-san's heart. Because she herself was under the geas that Lady Zōju put on her template many years ago — and given the rather interesting situation within Onii-san's own mind since neither Onē-sama, Onē-san nor I truly cared for her thanks to her selfishness — Hensō-san was never affected by Mistress Nyōko's curse. Nor was Miyake Shinobu for that matter as she no longer truly cared for Onii-san…as she so gladly demonstrated at the end of the Tag Race, not to mention that stupid incident with the so-called 'Rosebuds' a couple months later. Thus, the curse targeted the only other person attending the school who had shown Onii-san any compassion during his lifetime and still held onto those feelings even if the face of what he was made to do thanks to the Promise and his finding my magatama the summer after his sixth birthday. That was thanks to a childhood crush this poor woman felt for Onii-san because he treated her with caring and decency after some older miscreants bullied her when both were in kindergarten, giving her a rose from a local park to help cheer her spirits and walking her home that day. Her name is Inu Chigaiko; she was a classmate of Onii-san's and is currently a member of the Tomobiki High girls basketball team." She shook her head as torrents of sarcasm escaped her when she added, "And right after Master Matabei graced all of Tomobiki High with his corpulent presence that accursed night, people forgot that poor girl's name. Her friends in class, her teammates on the basketball team, her teachers and everyone else who attends or works at that school. Save Onii-san."

"Oh, ye gods…!" Hidekawa breathed out in horror…

* * *

Tomobiki…

"_Jesucristo_…!"

A white-faced Shinobu — ignoring the group of teachers and the two nurses assigned to the school as they moved to help the several dazed and hurt students struck down by the backlash of power Ataru's soulsword just unleashed, not to mention a sobbing Rumiko as she was comforted by several of the other girls in the class — rose from her desk to walk over to the lectern where the class' seating chart was posted. Gazing on it, she then traced down the names until she got to the one name Ataru's sister just mentioned.

"'Inu…Chigaiko'…"

Her eyes then fell on the unconscious basketball player nearby…

* * *

Chiyoda…

"If the magic of the geas was tied to the mana node under the Tarōzakura, how on Earth did it wind up possessing Dietman Tsuruya here?" Yō then demanded.

"The geas had acquired sentience over the years, Yō," Negako calmly explained as she finished her treatment of Tsuruya Rumiko's grandfather before she nodded permission to a pair of paramedics to take the dazed dietman away. "Which is not surprising; Tomobiki IS sited over the intersection of TWENTY separate ley lines, so the influence of natural magic upon the geas was profound. When Kyech and I made use of the mana node to destroy the Niphentaxian squadron on Wednesday evening, the geas' controlling sentience — realizing that it was now deprived of its only real source of energy to maintain its continued existence — immediately sought out a host body to inhabit so that it could do as it has always done since Matabei was a student at Tomobiki High School: Try to kill Chigaiko in hopes of breaking Ataru's heart." She gazed in amusement at the young potter. "When news of the Avalonian Immigration Bill went public on Thursday afternoon, it possessed Nobuhiro in hopes of derailing it. The geas clearly sensed how much the Avalonians in Tomobiki care for Ataru and wished them gone by any means possible…especially since several of them immediately declared their intention to become students at that school as a way of keeping him safe and protected from those who would hurt him such as Shūtarō, Satoshi and his companions and Shinobu. However, because it was so weak…"

"Ataru-kun was the target?!" Chiaki demanded.

"Either he or you, Chiaki," Negako stated. "In your case, it was because you were moving to guarantee that the Avalonians will remain on Earth."

"Which is what will happen."

People perked before they turned…

…to see a smiling silver-haired man of around seventy standing there, dressed in a dark suit with a leather-bound folder in hand. "Dietman Eda!" Chiaki called out on recognizing the current President of the House of Councillors.

The older man smiled. "While all this excitement was happening, we decided to hold the vote on the Avalonian Immigration Bill — excuse me, the _**Avalonian Immigration Act**_ — to get today's business over with so His Majesty may officially promulgate the Act to the people." He then gazed on the young freshman from Tōkyō. "If you'll join me, Dietman Asami…?"

"Now, now, Satsuki-kun, there's no need to rush things. Let Negako-kun make sure Ataru-kun is alright, then we can all go into my chambers to deal with the Act."

People all gazed on the Emperor as he came up, an amused smile on his face…

* * *

Tomobiki High School, an hour later…

"_**WHERE THE FUCK IS CHIGAIKO?! MOVE OUTTA MY WAY, ASSHOLE!**_"

The sickening sound of bones being broken thanks to a fist made the people now gathered in the nurse's station wince before the door was thrown open and a slightly-older version of Inu Chigaiko in the tan business suit-like uniform of Butsumetsu High School stormed into the room. On seeing her, many inside croaked in horror on seeing the murderous look on her face…to say anything of the drawn shin-guntō now in her hand. Following her was a small crowd of peers from her school composed of both men and women…including some of the very toughs that had visited Tomobiki High back in the early fall to start a rumble when the members of Class 1-4 were making a movie about school violence under Moroboshi Ataru's direction. Of course, since Redet Hensō was part of the class at the time, things eventually went totally strange; she loaned one of her movie projectors for Ataru's use when the school's movie camera was damaged…which ended up allowing warped versions of herself, Miyake Shinobu, Mendō Shūtarō and the Stormtroopers to come to life just as the gang from Butsumetsu came charging in to start a fight.

Naturally, the visitors from Tomobiki's southern end were sent scurrying back to their own school with their tails tucked between their legs!

That "insult" to their pride had never been forgiven by the students of Butsumetsu High…as many Tomobiki High students had learned much to their regret since that time whenever they were caught anywhere close to the former school's marked "territory" at the southern end of the district.

And now, the "Wild Lady of Butsumetsu" herself — who was the OLDER SISTER to one of Ataru's old classmates here at Tomobiki High! — had come to visit.

This wasn't good…

"Will you PLEASE try to…UUURK!"

All the boys croaked out in horror on seeing Sakurambō Sakura now under threat of beheading thanks to a sneering Inu Fuchiko. "Shut the fuck up, bitch!" the leader of Butsumetsu High's new gang of toughs snarled. "Why the fuck you're being allowed to serve as a school nurse while you're also a fuckin' _shrine maiden_, I'll NEVER get!"

The senior of the two nurses assigned to Tomobiki High, Chikamatsu Fusae, took a deep breath; she had been asked to remain here in October after Sakura had begun working here full-time because of the very question of someone like the shrine maiden working as a nurse in spite of her _**also**_ serving at the Senshōbu-jinja north of downtown. "I assume, Fuchiko-san, you're here to take Chigaiko-kun home?" she then asked.

Fuchiko smirked. Like many of the students at Tomobiki High, people at Butsumetsu High had been watching the special NHK news broadcast on the Avalonian Immigration Bill being passed by the National Diet…and had seen and heard what people had said about the curse that had made her little sister's life a living hell for well over three months. "Actually, I'm here to get Chigaiko to Negako-san so she can look at her, Sensei," she declared, which made Sakura croak…before she gargled as the sharp edge of the Butsumetsu sophomore's sword pressed into her neck. "After finding out the truth about a curse that _**YOU**_ should have fuckin' picked up on the day it was forced on my little sister, Sakurambō, it'll be a cold day in Hell before I let you — much less that moocher you call an uncle — near her!"

"Fuchiko-san, please!" Mendō Shūtarō calmly protested as he moved up to her, quickly flicking on the charm to calm her down. "There's no need…!"

"Hurt him."

"You got it, Boss!"

_CRUNCH!_

"…to…play…!"

Many of the girls who saw Fuchiko's men nearly CRUSH Mendō's head with a pair of handy cinder blocks moaned in panty-soaking terror on seeing how easy it was for Butsumetsu High's new top bad girl to order the most popular man at Tomobiki High put down without even blinking. As Fusae chuckled in amusement on seeing that the scion of Japan's richest family _wasn't_ getting his way THIS time, Fuchiko smirked. Ever since Chigaiko had effectively lost all her friends at the start of November, she had been quite snarly when it came to describing the actions of all her peers to her sister and her parents during dinner conversations. Naturally, the only man who had not earned Chigaiko's ire since that dance was Moroboshi Ataru. And while she had been disgusted by Ataru's behaviour in the period between the Tag Race and Hallowe'en, the fact that HE was the **_only_** person at Tomobiki High who remembered her name in the wake of that school dance the Red Cloak crashed made Chigaiko's attitudes towards him swing fully about to the point where — after he divorced Hensō outside Onishuto Cathedral two months ago — she began to seriously crush on the man.

But given Moroboshi Negako's warning when the media morons interviewed her on Friday about what Ataru thought of people in Tomobiki NOW…!

"Boss?"

"Yo?!" Fuchiko called out as she looked over her shoulder.

Standing there was a smirking freshman with shaggy dark red hair that went to her collarbones and dark brown eyes…who had a _dataPADD_ in one hand. As all the Tomobiki High people gaped at the sight of an _**Avalonian**_ being a member of Inu Fuchiko's gang, Chigaiko's older sister churlishly smiled. _Do these dickwads actually expect all the girls Ataru and his sisters saved last week to be all sweet and nice?!_

"Sorry to interrupt you, but I was able to speak to Negako-sama about your sister," Kyōno Mari calmly stated. "She's currently at the Toranoseishin Finances Tower right now. She's waiting for us to get Chigaiko-san there so she can examine her."

"Why don't Negako-sama come here?!" one of the Butsumetsu men then asked.

A smirk answered him. "Because Negako-sama doesn't wish to waste any time KILLING half the people in this school before she can help the Boss' sister, Yū-kun," Mari sweetly answered as she winked at him. As the Tomobiki High students gasped in terror on learning that _**Imperial Special Agent #49**_ was now seriously considering _killing_ all of them, she added, "That might upset both Hiromi-san and Ataru-kun…which might make the former go fully public on her being _**Reitei**_ of all people to all the tōshi in Kantō. We can guess what'll happen next!"

Hearing that, all the Butsumetsu men grimly nodded as Mifune Hideyuki choked in horror on hearing _that_. "Give me a hand, guys!" Takase Yū said as he walked over to the diagnostic bed holding a still-unconscious Chigaiko. "I ain't in the mood to rumble with no tōshi. Especially no tōshi _**emperor**_ at that!"

The other men laughed as they moved to help. As Chigaiko was gently lifted out of the nurse's station, Fuchiko smirked before she glared death at Sakurambō Sakura. "Don't fuckin' try to blame this on Ataru-kun anytime in the future, bitch!" she warned. "I hear you're causing my sister grief because we went to Negako-san, I might decide to spare Usāmah bin Lādin and his pals some trouble and fit you for cement overshoes to see you become fish food in Tōkyō Bay!" As Sakura croaked on hearing that threat, the younger girl smirked…before her fist crashed into the nurse/miko's nose like a runaway Shin-kansen train, nearly crushing it! As everyone gasped on seeing Sakura collapse to a dazed heap on the floor, Fuchiko sheathed her sword. "Sorry about the mess, Sensei," she apologized to Fusae before she moved to leave.

"_**DISRESPECTFUL BITCH! HOW DARE YOU HURT SAKURA-SENSEI…?!**_"

_ZZ-ZARK!_

The other Stormtroopers nearly pissed their trousers on seeing Megane shot down by a stun shot by Mari's Lawgiver. As the others gaped in shock on seeing the leader of the Stormtroopers brought down like that, the red-haired Terran-form Avalonian blew away the cordite smoke from her pistol's muzzle. "Always dreamt of the day that I'd do that to that _kimei'aidoei_," she sweetly declared before she moved to walk out of the room.

"Wh-why…?"

Fuchiko blinked before she glared at Shinobu. "Because he _hates_ you all, Miyake! Didn't you hear what Negako-san told you when she broke your jaw?!" she spat out. "The whole fuckin' world don't revolve around you arrogant pricks! That's why the SMART people in Japan would just love to see all of you BURN!" She then pointed at Ataru's former girlfriend. "By the way, you fuckin' give my sister grief because she wants to try to make something with Ataru-kun, I'll get Negako-san to take that fuckin' super-strength away from you, then gift-wrap you up for _**Soban**_!" As Shinobu gasped in horror on hearing the name of Fuchiko's fellow gang leader from Butsumetsu High — a short, fat, balding man with grossly-deformed lips who had got a crush on her a month ago when she bashed him into lower Earth orbit after she saved a schoolmate, Uchida Isako, from being forced into a "pink party" — the older woman gave her a knowing look. "Don't bet on Ataru-kun saving your fat ass if that ever happens, Miyake! He'd probably _help_ Soban out…seeing as how you fuckin' BETRAYED him last summer and fall!"

As Fuchiko marched out of the nurse's station, the other girls of her gang sneered at a now white-faced Shinobu before they followed their leader out…

* * *

Downtown Tomobiki, the Toranoseishin Finances Tower, suppertime…

"Will you relax?" Ataru calmly stated. "It was only a flesh wound."

"Well, thank the gods for that," Tariko replied back from Hinata; both were talking to each other via dataPADD live-time feed. Ataru's twin was currently inside the Wafū Chabō Hinata enjoying supper. "Before the whole thing about the curse that hit Chigaiko-chan was revealed, everyone at the Hinata-sō — not to mention a lot of the girls on the factory itself — were ready to go charge into Tomobiki and mind-rape a few people to find out what goaded Rumiko-chan's old man into attacking you."

He chuckled. "We can't afford to allow that to happen just yet, Tariko," he mused as he reclined back in a diagnostic chair so that Hinomura Yō's current working companion, Wòhng Dākyùhn, could perform some acupuncture on his lower right arm to ensure the ki healing Ataru performed on himself at the National Diet Building would not be undone. "It's still far too soon to let the girls flex their muscles like that."

"Aye, that's true," a compassionate voice then stated.

Ataru gazed on Hiromi, who was gazing out at the late afternoon sky over Tomobiki from her position near the picture windows of the lounge that formed part of the guest suite above the offices of the senior officers of the Inshin Group such as Yumoa Reigi. "We don't have to worry about idiots like Cherry and Sakura coming in to try to cleanse us of whatever evil has possessed us, Hiromi," he advised on sensing what the reborn emperor of the Hàn was concerned about. "This whole place is blood ki warded fifty ways from Sunday against those two, not to mention the other morons we've had to deal with."

"Why don't you just kill them and be done with it?" Dākyùhn wondered.

"Killing, Master Dākyùhn, is far too easy for those such as you or I," Hiromi stated as she gazed in amusement at the cold-looking man with the slicked-back raven hair and the slit-like brown eyes. "Making them _suffer_ for all their actions hurts them far worse than sending them off to whatever awaits us beyond the Veil of the Te'a." She then sighed as a melancholy look crossed her face. "Besides, the Venerable Sakurambō and his niece aren't evil by any stretch of the imagination. Aye, their many human failings haven't done Onii-san any real favours since they first came into his life…but it doesn't warrant such extreme reactions."

"You feel that way about the others in this city, oh Emperor?" Dākyùhn asked.

A light smile crossed her face. "In this life, my good friend, I am an emperor of _nothing_ at all," she stated, which made both Ataru and Tariko smile in turn and Dākyùhn gape in awe at such a show of profound humility. Knowing that Yō's assistant in his current mission for the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì would report what he had overheard to his co-workers once it was all said and done, she added, "Much that I do appreciate His Majesty's profound concern for my spiritual welfare — it was quite easy for me to sense that Tsukihana-kun and Ayami-chan wanted to not force me to confront the information concerning what had happened to them and all the others like us over the centuries — as he and his counterparts elsewhere move to convince me to take command of that doughty little fleet of _kŏbuksŏn_ now in orbit over our small world, I will endure."

"So how, if I may humbly ask, do we learn how to defeat such telepathy, Lady Hiromi?" an aged voice then cackled from the direction of the kitchen.

"Would you like Master Yō to possess such abilities, Obā-san?" Hiromi then offered as she gazed in amusement at the matriarch of the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì, who had just arrived in Tomobiki after landing ashore on the Izu Peninsula from the _Hākhóilùhng_ and being met by two of the Kuromoroboshi — the personal bodyguard force of the matriarch of the Moroboshi Clan of Mutsu — so she could be conveyed here as quickly as possible.

"It may be necessary," Fú Fūnglīng stated with a nod of thanks. "Much that I would understand why you and your siblings would wish to protect those poor girls after what they've endured, one misspoken word to the wrong person…"

Hiromi nodded before she gazed out the window. "Jinseiko-san?"

"Hai, Mistress?"

Both Fūnglīng and Dākyùhn gaped on seeing a lithe and well-exercised figure now kneeling beside Hiromi, her head bowed low. "Go fetch Shasta-san, please," the Moroboshi Clan matriarch bade.

"Hai!"

And with that, she was gone. "Oh, my…!" Fūnglīng breathed out.

"Who was that, Sempai?"

That was Maehara Shinobu, who had been dispatched up to Tomobiki by Urashima Taeko to help prepare some food for the Moroboshi siblings after their quite exciting afternoon. To the total surprise of the two natives of Hong Kong, the middle school freshman from Hinata hadn't even blinked twice when Hiromi had introduced both Fūnglīng and Dākyùhn by their names and current group of affiliation. _What sort of things has this poor child faced?!_ the aged matriarch of the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì had wondered when she noted that.

"That was Fusegu Jinseiko, the leader of my late grandmother's personal bodyguard force, Shinobu-san," Hiromi answered as Shinobu came over with some tea and snacks for Ataru and Dākyùhn to enjoy. "Trained as a perfect hunter and killer since she was rescued from the orphanage by Obā-san as a child, as are all the other Kuromoroboshi now serving me. She wouldn't stand up to Onē-sama in battle, of course, but she can ruin someone's life if required."

Shinobu nodded. "That's what your family's really done all this time," she said. "Taeko-sempai told me about that. The 'Tenchiaiki Jūkazoku,' you call yourselves."

"What does that mean, Lady Shinobu?" Dākyùhn asked.

"'The Ten Spiritually Harmonious Houses of Heaven and Earth,' Master Dākyùhn," Hiromi translated on the younger woman's behalf. "As you might know, we are distantly related to the Imperial Family thanks to a tryst between the Shōtoku Empress and her future Chancellor of the Realm, Master Dōkyō, after he cured an illness she was suffering from in 761; that is what ultimately saw her forced to abdicate — even if the history books say she died from smallpox — to make way for the Kōnin Emperor." She smirked. "It amazed many people that she had been able to give birth to her daughter Mirei when she was in her early forties; back in those days, women her age were well past the point where they could safely bear children."

Shinobu hummed. "It has to be meson," she concluded as she came over to hand Hiromi a cup of tea. "Master Hosan was serving the Throne at the time. Could that have provoked it?"

Hiromi shrugged, though she had nodded her thanks for the tea. "Perhaps, Shinobu-san…especially when one notes that the Lady Mirei gave birth to TEN healthy children who each became the leaders of the Ten Families when the Kammu Emperor bade them to form a silent force that served the Imperial Household as their impartial eyes and ears so they would know the truth of what was happening throughout Japan without any sort of bias that others might bring to the Court." She turned to gaze on Dākyùhn. "We are the last of the Ten Families, Master Dākyùhn…and because of Obā-san's grief at the suicide of her husband shortly after Otō-san was born, we have literally been made to abandon our sacred duties to the Heavenly Sovereign and the nation. That will no longer happen, not under my watch."

"Then may the Tenchiaiki Jūkazoku live long and prosper," Dākyùhn declared.

That made everyone in the room roar with laughter. "I didn't know you were a Trekker, good sir!" Hiromi stated…before she tensed. "Oh, my…"

"Got her," Ataru breathed out. "Sorry about this…"

He calmly removed the acupuncture needles from his arm…just as running footsteps from a nearby stairwell heralded the arrival of Ataru's mother. "There you are, you idiot boy!" Kinshō snarled out as more footsteps heralded the arrival of two of the building's security officers, batons out as they moved to bash her down. "You'll come home right this in-…!"

"_**SEISHIN KUSARIGAMA!**_"

Hiromi flipped a control to open one of the windows as Ataru snared his mother with a glowing ki chain ending with a grappling hook around her waist. He then yanked her right at him…

_KK-KRACK!_

Ataru's mother gargled as his fist smashed hard into her nose, shattering the cartilage and causing blood to explode all over her. As she stared in wide-eyed disbelief at her only living son, Ataru then icily smirked…before he effortlessly yanked her right through the opened window his sister provided for him and send Kinshō flying into the late afternoon sky over Tomobiki. "Oh, well pitched, Onii-san!" the reborn emperor stated as she watched her genetic mother disappear into the late afternoon sky. "I dare say you'll drop that witless moron right into one of the fountains at the Mendō estate!"

Ataru dispersed the psychic kusarigama before he relaxed himself, waving off the security officers. "Hopefully Ryōko-chan will be close by to get soaked," he stated as a grinning Dākyùhn went back to work putting the acupuncture needles back into the skin. "She'll keep the slut occupied."

"'Slut,' Sempai?" Shinobu asked.

Again, Fūnglīng found herself gaping in shock at the calm maturity this young girl — a freshman in MIDDLE SCHOOL! — was showing. "My brother and I was born out of a tryst between Baka Kā-san and Baka Tō-san shortly before both graduated from Tomobiki High, Shinobu-chan," Ataru explained as Dākyùhn reinserted the first needle. "Back when she was my age, Baka Kā-san discovered the wonderful joys of sex and started putting out to everyone — men and women alike — that crossed her path."

"Yeah. The dumb idiot called herself the 'Goddess of Love' and declared that a new Age of Aquarius had come to Tomobiki," Tariko added from Hinata before sipping some tea. "Stupid fool never realized that the Age of Aquarius was back in the _**Nineteen-Sixties**_, not the early _Nineteen-Nineties_! It's a wonder to me how she never gave birth to more kids before she bedded Baka Tō-san and forced him to marry her."

"Aye, Onē-san, Obā-san always knew she was nothing more than a lazy gold-digger," Hiromi noted. "A pity that Onē-sama is about to become Onii-san's legal guardian. Once that happens, the stupid, selfish fool won't have any legal or moral ground to stand on if she tries to seize any of Onii-san's money in the future."

All three siblings laughed before Hiromi and Ataru perked. "Then maybe we can help it along, Hiromi-chan," a strange voice then hailed from nearby.

Everyone turned to see a beautiful blonde, blue-eyed woman with classical Nordic features standing near the emergency stairs. Kneeling beside the Elder Mother of the Avalonians of Tomobiki was the leader of the Kuromoroboshi. "Shasta Ianson-sama, Mistress," Jinseiko formally announced as she bowed her head to her matriarch.

"My thanks, Jinseiko-san. You may go," Hiromi bade.

"Hai! Excuse me, please!"

And with that, the beautiful kunoichi vanished. "What have you got in mind, Shasta-san?" Ataru asked the Avalonian-Swede who currently worked as a secretary for Sony-Ericsson at their world headquarters in Tōkyō's Minato Ward. "Other than killing the idiot?"

"Having three of our sisters steal her husband from her?" Shasta proposed.

Hiromi blinked. "Do go on, please," she then bade.

The others laughed, even Shinobu…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) The word **Kkangp'ae** (literally meaning "thug") is the term that is applied either to a street gang or the Korean version of the Italian Mafia or Japanese Yakuza. Other terms used to specifically imply the South Korean mob gangs include **Kŏndal** ("tramps") and **Chop'ok** ("gang of violence"). Descent from street gangs who supported the growing merchant class in the latter years of the Chosŏn Dynasty, the kkangp'ae would be suppressed by the influence of the Yakuza during the occupation of Korea by Japan between 1910-45, but would return with a vengeance after the Liberation and the Korean War. As South Korea rebuilt itself after the war, the government of **Yi Sŭngman** (1875-1965) allied with one of the major kkangp'ae gangs to help repress agitation from pro-North gangs. After Yi was forced out of power and effectively replaced by **Pak Chŏnghŭi** (1917-79) in the early 1960s, many politically-allied gang bosses were executed, forcing the kkangp'ae to go underground. As Korea charged ahead to become one of the Asian Tigers economically in the 1970s and 1980s, the kkangp'ae would eventually specialize in things such as money laundering, loan sharking, liquor selling, construction, gambling, prostitution and other illegal activities. These days, there is a romantic air about the kkangp'ae in the eyes of many Koreans, in much the same manner as many Japanese often view yakuza. This attitude is demonstrated by the amount of films and television shows that have delved into this subject in recent years. One such example is the 2001 movie _Chop'ok Manura_ (literally "The Old Lady Is A Gangster" though normally translated as "My Wife Is A Gangster") starring **Shin Ŭn'gyŏng** (born 1973) as the title character; she would portray the lady gang boss in the 2003 sequel to the movie, though not appear in the second sequel that came out in 2006.

The **Ch'ilsŏngp'a** (literally "Seven Star Gang") is one of the three largest kkangp'ae gangs active in Korea today. Based in the port city of Pusan, this particular group functions very much like the yakuza gangs of Japan, though its internal workings are kept very top secret and have yet to be fully penetrated by the Korean police. The gang's tattoo — all kkangp'ae wear identifying tattoos on their bodies to indicate their particular allegiance — is a pattern of seven stars on one's chest.

2) _Yatsura_ and _The Senior Year_ character notes:

The **Cyborg** side of Moroboshi Ataru's personality (which first appeared in the _TSY_ story "Sakura's Class Reunion") is, in effect, his darker side brought out in flesh and metal as hard as pure neutronium. Based physically on the **Cyborg Superman** (**Hank Henshaw**) who appeared in the "Reign of the Supermen" storyline published by DC Comics during the mid-1990s, the Cyborg is — as noted above — an updated representation of the **Master of Entropy** (in Sagussan, _Keiseiri'cha_), the being that typically symbolizes the ending of all things that exist (his story was explained in the _TSY_ story "Noa").

The "**grow old and die alone**" joke was introduced in _TSY_ — starting around "Sakura's Class Reunion" — as a counterpunch to the "I wish I never had him" laments often made by Ataru's mother. This stems from the first _Yatsura_ movie, _Only You_, when Ataru's mother — as Ataru himself is preparing to meet Elle before Lum comes to kidnap them all — wonders, "_Who's going to take care of me when I'm old and grey?!_" I always personally imagined Ataru growing tired of his mother's abuse and retorting with "You'll grow old and die alone" or some other such phrase.

**Tsuruya Rumiko** is my name for the bespectacled girl in Ataru's class who distantly resembles Takahashi-sensei; naturally, I gave her the same given name. She first appeared in the manga story "What Child Is This?" (manga episode #29); she would later appear in the story "Food Fight" as a member of Mendō's Secret Peer Guidance Committee. Her being a lesbian is my creation.

**Inu Chigaiko** and her older sister **Inu Fuchiko** first appeared in the _TSY_ story "Darling's Secret Date." The former — who would die at the end of that story — would literally come back to life in the side-story "Children of Eternity."

The **Red Cloak** first appeared in the manga story of the same name (manga episode #41). His birth name **Hirota Matabei** and the curse that was unleashed on him and his girlfriend by **Ezakiya Nyōko** which would later affect Inu Chigaiko are my inventions; I first postulated this in an incomplete part of _Lonely Souls_ and would later use this concept in the Anime Add-venture.

Miyake Shinobu's use of the Spanish-language curse _Jesucristo_ (literally meaning "Jesus Christ") — inspired by the character of **Domingo Chavez** from Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan novel series — is based on the _TSY_ side story "Shinobu: Futures Imperfect" by Phil Gavigan. It was in that story that Shinobu was revealed to be a Roman Catholic; her pastor is from Mexico.

The events surrounding the film-created replicas of Hensō et al mentioned near the end of this part were depicted in the manga story "Love and Violence" (manga episode #78). I made one modification here: Since the Stormtroopers were mostly anime characters, I included all four of them in this story; in the manga, only Perm — known simply as "Shirai Kōsuke" — appeared.

**Chikamatsu Fusae** is my name for the school nurse who appears in the manga story "A Flying Start" (manga episode #33).

**Soban** and his gang first appeared in the two-part manga story "Duel of Courage" (manga episodes #233-234). I created the name **Uchida Isako** for the young girl in whose place Lum would fight to put down the gang.

**Fusegu Jinseiko** and the **Kuromoroboshi** (literally "black shooting stars") first appeared in the _TSY_ story "Tag Race Mark Three."

And **Shasta Ianson** was the Earth alias of the Noukiite field observer **Shaskaar bedai-Iyake**, who first appeared in "Shinobu: Futures Imperfect"; I revealed Shaskaar's alias in the _Faking It - Great Guardians_ storyline at the Anime Add-venture. In the universe of this story, Shasta is Shaskaar's physical clone and younger sister figure.

3) The **Secretary-General** (_Kanji-chō_) of the **Liberal Democratic Party** (_Jiyū-Minshutō_) mentioned by Haruka, **Haraguchi Kenji**, is a character from _Sanctuary_; he first appeared in "Scheme" (manga episode #48). In the manga, he was depicted as the chief flunky of Isaoka Norimoto…though he was always quick to switch sides between the various factions of the ruling party to ensure he would always remain in a place of influence. In the universe of this story, Haraguchi rode Isaoka's coattails until the latter formally retired from his post in the mid-1990s, then won the support of several factions — all of whom were scared of the sudden rise of the Nineties Association — to become Secretary-General of the LDP, where he has remained since then.

4) Translations: **JNN** — Japan News Network, the all-news affiliate of the **Tōkyō Broadcasting System** (**TBS**) network; **UHB** — Call-sign for the **Hokkaidō Cultural Broadcasting** television station…which, as noted above, is affiliated with **FNN** ("Fuji News Network"), the all-news affiliate network of **Fuji Television**; **TF1** — Short for **Télévision Française 1** ("French Television #1"), France's most popular domestic network; **Iinchō** — Literally "committee head," this is the title bestowed on a classroom representative to the student council at any Japanese school; **Seishin-Hasai Hi-Kōsen** — Literally "Spirit-Breaker Fire-Light," this is the long-distance spirit-shredding attack in Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū as shown here; **Zhíduō** — A casual form of dress for men that first became popular during the **Míng Dynasty** (1368-1644), composed of a full-length robe with side slits beginning below the waist, often with side panels at the slits as well to conceal the undergarments and curved sleeves with a narrow sleeve cuff; **Hākhóilùhng** — Black Dragon of the Sea; **Haaulìhng** — Cantonese way of saying the word "Xiàolíng"; **Deuksih** — Cantonese way of saying the characters that go into the Japanese word "tōshi"; **Hon** — Cantonese way of saying "Hàn"; **Suhk** — Cantonese way of saying "Shǔ"; **Ngaih** — Cantonese way of saying "Wèi"; **Ngh** — Cantonese way of saying "Wú" (as in **Dōng Wú**); **Síulàm** — Cantonese way of saying "Shàolín" (as in the **Shàolín Temple**); **Shin-guntō** — Literally "new military sword," this is a single-edged Japanese-style blade that was mass-produced for officers of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1935-45 (unlike a katana, a shin-guntō was often not made by traditional methods…to say anything of being constructed with the proper tamahagane steel that went into a samurai's weapon).

5) **Metro Tōkyō District Nineteen** covers the cities of Nishitōkyō, Kodaira, Kokubunji and Kunitachi.

6) The **Oath of the Peach Grove** between **Liú Bèi** (161-223 C.E.), **Guān Yǔ** (unknown date of birth, died 219) and **Zhāng Fēi** (unknown date of birth, died 221) is fictional and an invention of the writer of _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, **Luó Guànzhōng** (circa 1330-1400). However, the story of the three oath-brothers making their formal alliance under the branches of a peach tree — supposedly taken at the time of the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 — became so popular that it would eventually make an appearance in all modern interpretations of the _Romance_ such as _Ikkitōsen_. Also, the oath is often used in present-day secret societies in Chinese communities such as the Triads; there, they use a similar ritual when swearing in new members. "_Though not born on the same day of the same month in the same year, we hope to die so!_" — the phrase Liú, Guān and Zhāng were reported to have said during the oath — is ALWAYS a prominent statement during such rituals.

7) _Crying Freeman_ character notes:

**Fú Fūnglīng** is, as noted above, the matriarch of the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì; because of that, she is normally addressed as "Mother Tiger." She first appeared in the eleventh part of the first manga story, "Yō-san." It was she who taught Hinomura Yō how to properly manipulate his mind and body so he could serve his new masters; one of the interesting tricks she taught him was how to use chopsticks with his **_toes_** to have a meal! She would serve as Yō's senior adviser after he was made the new head of the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì.

And **Wòhng Dākyùhn** first appeared in the second part of the first manga story. He was Yō's primary field assistant during the first element of the _Crying Freeman_ manga, published in English under the title "Portrait of a Killer."

8) Her Majesty's Submarine _Valiant_ (pendant number **S102**, sixth ship of the name) was the name vessel of her class of two nuclear hunter-killer submarines. Launched in 1963 and commissioned three years later, she would serve in the 1982 Falklands War on air raid warning duties off the Argentine coast. Engine troubles saw her decommissioned in 1994. In real life, she is currently laid up at Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport while facilities are built for the long-term storage of her radioactive components. In the universe of this story, _Valiant_ was secretly purchased by the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì and fully refitted with the assistance of mainland Chinese and Russian naval dockyard workers to transform her into the _Hākhóilùhng_. It was a mutually beneficial trade between the Triad and the naval workers of the two nations; the latter groups got the chance to study ex-_Valiant_'s internal technology for their own submarine programs and the former group got a stealthy mobile base they could use anywhere in the world.

9) The Chinese have always used several year-dating systems. One of them is to count the years literally from the mythical reign of the **Huángdì**, the Yellow Emperor who was said to have founded the modern Middle Kingdom. Year 1 of the **Huángdì Era** corresponds to the Gregorian year 2698 B.C.E. This would make the Huángdì Year **4506** correspond to 1808 C.E. (the year that the _Saikō Jinseijutsu_/Moroboshi Negako became a sentient being) and the Huángdì Year **4339** correspond to 1641 C.E. as explained below.

10) **Lǐ Zìchéng** (1606-?) — his name is pronounced "Léi Zeichìhng" in Cantonese — was the man who overthrew the Míng Dynasty in 1644, establishing his own **Shùn Dynasty** with him as ruler. The dynasty didn't last past the rest of the year; forces that would eventually establish the **Qīng Dynasty** (1644-1912) would run him out of his capital and eventually wreck his forces at the **Battle of Shānhǎi Pass** on 27 May 1644. The exact date of his death is unknown, but it is suspected to have happened sometime in 1645.

As noted in the second part of the first story of _Crying Freeman_, the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì was founded by 108 monks from the Shàolín Temple who supported the Míng Dynasty against the rise of Qīng. Since Lǐ Zìchéng destroyed the Temple in 1641, he would obviously get the direct blame for driving out the monks who would — as reported by Hinomura Yō's target **Shimasaki Shūdō** to a gathering of police officers in that part of the manga — both form the legendary **Jīngjù** ("Běijīng Opera") style of Chinese theatre…and the Society of the 108 Dragons.

11) The kanji **地** can be read in Japanese as either "_chi_" or "_ji_" in _on'yomi_ style or "_tsuchi_" in _kun'yomi_ ("meaning reading") style. This is the character that represents either "earth" or "ground." As first noted in _Lonely Souls_, in Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū — which follows the standard ninjutsu ranking system of **genin** (beginner ninja), **chūnin** (mid-rank ninja) and **jōnin** (senior ninja) — only the acknowledged grandmaster of the Art can wear a black belt with the "chi" kanji on it. When in martial arts gi practicing in the dōjō, genin wear white belts, chūnin wear black belts and jōnin wear black belts with a specific kanji indicating a specialty as denoted by the standing grandmaster.

12) Sakurambō Sakura's shrine was never named in _Yatsura_. I coined the name **Senshōbu-jinja** for my stories in the Anime Add-venture, borrowing once more from the _rokuyō_ that was used to devise the names of the local high schools in the manga and anime. The term "Senshōbu" actually combines two terms together: **Senshō** (literally "first victory") and **Senbu** (literally "first burden"). The former term indicates that there is good luck before noon but bad luck after lunch; the latter term reverses the concept. Thus, the combined name "Senshōbu" could either imply constant good luck or constant bad luck. Given Sakura's success rate in helping people, that seemed quite befitting to me.

13) **Kyōno Mari** and **Takase Yū** (his given name is my invention) are characters from Yamatogawa-sensei's one-part story "Terrible Sweet," which would be later published in _Aqua Bless_.

14) The term **Kimei'aidoei** is the worst insult a Sagussan or Avalonian can use on someone. It could be normally translated as "fucking half-lives," combining the obscene profanity _ki_ with _mei_ ("life"/"soul") and the fractional term _aidoei_ (literally "one-half"). The term _mei'aidoei_ came into common use during the latter years of the **Gisan'cha** ("Age of Unbounded Technology") era from 24,000-14,000 years ago to identify the clones which would become a trigger-point for the subsequent **War of Clone Rights** that effectively destroyed the Fourth Sagussan Republic; since clones were always stored without a living soul within the body, they were seen as literally having "half a life."

15) The term **Kŏbuksŏn** is Korean for "Turtle Ship." This was applied to vessels that served in the Navy of the Chosŏn Dynasty that — according to many records — were the first true iron-armoured vessels, they appearing hundreds of years before vessels such as C.S.S. _Virginia_ (ex-U.S.S. _Merrimack_) and U.S.S. _Monitor_ were constructed in the 1860s to fight in the American Civil War. The _kŏbuksŏn_ was — again, according to some reports — designed with a wooden hull but with an enclosed upper deck, the weather deck being fitted on the outer surface with iron plates. It IS known that such vessels had a weather deck that was covered from stem to stern in hundreds of iron spikes; this would make attempted boardings of such vessels quite hazardous to enemy marines. Such vessels were used by Chosŏn from the Imjin War right to the Nineteenth Century when iron, steel and steam power took the place of wood and wind. The _kŏbuksŏn_ was the signature flagship of the famous admiral **Yi Sunshin** (1545-98), the commander of defending naval forces against the Japanese in the Imjin War; with them, Yi was able to inflict defeat after defeat against the forces of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

16) The story of the Moroboshi Clan's descent from an unknown child of the **Shōtoku Empress** (birth name **Abe**, lived 718-770, ruled in two periods between 749-758 and 765-770) and her lover **Dōkyō** (700-772) was first written about in _Lonely Souls_. In real life, the Shōtoku Empress was BOTH the forty-sixth AND forty-eighth Heavenly Sovereign of Japan according to traditional order; in her first time on the Throne, she ruled as the **Kōken Empress**. Abe was the sixth female Heavenly Sovereign to rule over Japan and the second such to spend two separate periods on the throne; in the period between 758-765, she was succeeded by the **Junnin Emperor** (birth name **Ōi**, lived 733-765), who was Abe's cousin. Abe was suceeded the second time by her first cousin twice removed, the **Kōnin Emperor** (birth name **Shirakabe**, lived 709-782, ruled 770-781). He himself would abdicate a year before his death to allow his son to become the **Kammu Emperor** (birth name **Yamabe**, lived 737-806, ruled 781-806). Of course, when I first came up with this idea for _Lonely Souls_, I didn't pay attention to the actual birth and death dates of both Abe and her lover; this is the reason I inserted the explanation of meson's effect on them both thanks to Hosan Hirosuke here.


	16. Taeko Comes to Curse Tomobiki

Space Factory #319, suppertime…

"Hey, Kitsune!"

Konno Mitsune — who was in the midst of snuggling as much as she could with Sakuramachi Yūko — perked on hearing that voice before she turned and smiled. "Hey, Makoto-chan!" the would-be writer called out on seeing the bank clerk approach her. "What the hell are you doing up here?! Don't you have a girl of your own to be with?!"

Tsutsumi Makoto laughed before she leaned down to deliver a warm kiss to Mitsune's lips. She then repeated same with Yūko before sitting down. Everyone was currently in the lounge close to the station's medical unit. Now that she had a hoverchair to move about in — even if she still needed help in getting in and out of her bed; according to Shiina Kaoru, the regeneration of the damaged neurons in her body wouldn't be finished until Thursday at the earliest — Mitsune wanted to spend as much time as she could away from her recovery room; this also gave her the chance to look around and learn more about her girlfriend's people. "Well, so far, my bonding programming hasn't activated with any of my sisters, even the one I'm sharing a cabin with now," she confessed.

"Who?"

Makoto pulled her dataPADD from her purse. "Okada Shinobu."

The eldest of the original Hinata-sō tenants hummed. "Oh, the social studies teacher at the Ōgusu Seminar," she noted. "That's a pretty good-looking lady."

"Hai, she is. And yes, I've had sex with her since the Liberation…but it just hasn't clicked in yet up here," Makoto confessed as she pointed to the side of her head in emphasis. "Anyhow, I just came up to see you to pass on some news about what's going on with you and your parents." She then paused before a delighted grin crossed her face. "You'll be safe in setting up your own account with us, Kitsune."

Mitsune took a moment to absorb that before she shook her head. "How?" she asked. "I'm still underage, Makoto-chan! I can't do anything until September…"

"Well, in one of the _good_ things Hina did when you moved down to the Hinata-sō, she tricked your father into signing legal custody over you to her," Makoto stated. "That's registered both with Hinata City Hall and the ward offices in Toshima."

Silence fell as the would-be writer considered that before she grinned as her eyes teared. "Damn…!" she breathed out. "I mean…damn…!"

Yūko immediately moved to comfort her as Makoto reached over to squeeze her shoulder in support. Feeling that, Mitsune shuddered before sobs of relief flowed out of her as she turned to hug her girlfriend, burying her face in the crook of Yūko's neck. That was the scene that Narusegawa Naru and Aoyama Motoko — both being escorted by Ogasawara Iori and Sakurada Tamao — came onto as they guided their own hoverchairs into the lounge. At first quite shocked on seeing Mitsune breaking down like that — neither of them had ever seen the older girl become so unstrung since they started living together at the Hinata-sō — the would-be Tōdai aspirant and the Shinmei-ryū kendō-ka then tensed as their girlfriends gently grasped their hands to telepathically relay what they were now sensing from the would-be writer. By then, Mitsune was trying to choke back her tears. "H-hi, guys…" she then sputtered out as she gazed on her co-tenants.

"You've just received some good news," Motoko commented as the others came over to join her.

"Y-yeah," Mitsune replied. "Obā-chan managed to pull a couple fast ones on Baka Aho Tō-san and Baka Aho Kā-san. She's technically my legal guardian at this time."

"Which means that she can set up a bank account with us in town and never have to worry about the money being stolen from her by her parents," Makoto added. "As soon as she gets back down to Hinata, we can get it set up right away."

"What about the fact that Obā-sama is in a coma?" Motoko asked. "Did she sign proxy to her grandson when she made him the manager like she did for Shinobu-chan?"

"She did," the bank clerk replied, quickly sensing another rant about Urashima Keitarō coming on from the kendō-ka. As she gave Tamao a knowing look, she added, "Tomorrow morning when he goes to City Hall to sign over the power of attorney papers to give Taeko-sama the right to become the manager and landlady of the Hinata-sō, he'll also sign power of attorney papers that will see to it that you and Shinobu-chan will fall under his sister's legal charge for the remaining time you're underage or until you decide to move out of the Hinata-sō, whichever comes first. Since he's too busy having all sorts of fun with his fiancée, he won't have time to help around at the dorm."

"**_WHAT?!_**" Motoko shrilled out. "_**HOW DARE THAT VILE, LAZY MAN ABANDON THE HINATA-SŌ LIKE THAT?!**_"

"Because it's what you've _**always wanted**_, Motoko-san," Makoto stated as her eyes twinkled with amusement. "Remember last year when he got the deed and the false power of attorney papers after he came to the Hinata-sō? How you all tried to work together to force him to leave so you could get a woman in as manager and landlady?" She then shrugged. "That's what he did for you earlier today, Motoko-san. Why are you so upset? You got a woman as a manager and he gets to concentrate on his studies so that the next time he writes the Centre Test, he'll hopefully succeed and get into Tōdai."

Motoko jerked on hearing that…before amused laughter made her turn to gaze wide-eyed at Mitsune. "What on Earth is so funny?!" she hotly demanded.

The would-be writer gazed on her. "You just can't stand the fact that Keitarō-kun actually pulled a fast one on you and got away with it!" she stated. "Besides, Makoto-chan's right! We DID try to force him to leave when Obā-chan sent the deed to him, remember?!" As Motoko sputtered, Mitsune leaned back to allow Yūko to wrap her arms around her. "He did what we've always wanted to have happen. He got us a woman for a landlady. Yeah, she's your clan's ultimate nightmare brought to life, but she does care for us…amazing as that sounds to me given how much she loves Keitarō-kun."

As Motoko began to choke on being reminded once again about the true nature of one Urashima Taeko, Naru sighed. "Alright! Alright, already! Let's relax!" she pleaded. "Kitsune's right, Motoko-chan! We _did_ want Keitarō to leave when Obā-chan sent him the deed and those power of attorney papers! He has every right to do what he did!"

The kendō-ka sputtered. "B-b-but…!"

A tired sigh then echoed from nearby. "I see that Motoko-ya isn't really listening to reason," a strange woman's voice stated. "Makes me wonder if her fool parents didn't drop the girl on her head too many times when they were teaching her martial arts."

"That is a possibility, Miss Taeko," another voice — one Mitsune was quick to recognize — then noted as the wounded Terrans and their companions all blinked. "Even if one part of Miss Motoko is listening to this, the other part doesn't seem to care."

Seven pairs of eyes then turned to look…

"Whoa…!" Mitsune breathed out.

Standing about two metres from Naru was a woman who looked like Keitarō's own fraternal twin sister with slightly-longer hair, dressed in a traditional-looking tunic-and-skirt combination that resembled a Korean hanbok, coloured in reds, browns and blacks. Her hands were currently behind her back as she gazed in amusement at the three wounded tenants. Beside her was Maria Eiffel, who also had an amused smile on her face.

"Urashima Taeko-sama, I presume," Yūko declared.

"You presume correctly, Yūko-ya," Taeko stated — ignoring the gargled breath from Motoko — as she nodded in greetings before she perked. "Oh, if you wish to know, the good people from the Immigration Bureau will have a special team sent up here tomorrow to begin processing people's requests to come into the country. You'll be all granted permanent residency status for the time being; citizenship will come within six months as long as you don't cause any problems." She then gazed on Mitsune. "Which should make things between you and Mitsune-ya much more comfortable in the long term."

"I'm grateful for that, Taeko-san," Mitsune stated before a contrite look crossed her face. "I'll try to get the money back to Keitarō-kun as soon as I can."

"I know you will. In fact, if you want, I can help you earn some money at the race track since you like betting on those sorts of things," Taeko said with a nod of acknowledgement, which made the would-be writer blush. "I have to admit, what Hina did for you was in your best interests." The smile then slipped from her face. "I only just wish that she gave her own flesh-and-blood the same consideration when she tricked Keitarō-ya into coming to the Hinata-sō to take her place as manager out of some hope of forcing him and Naru-ya here together." As Naru gaped, the landlady looked on her. "Ne, it's true, Naru-ya. You are the promise girl Keitarō-ya was always looking for."

The would-be Tōdai aspirant blinked as she took that in before shaking her head. "That's impossible!" she stated as Maria walked over to order some food and drink for everyone from Nuy dai-Tsuta's mother Elain. "I was only three…"

"True, you were," Taeko stated as she brought out what she was holding behind her back.

Naru gaped on seeing her Liddo-kun doll…which was now fully repaired from what Dō Karumi had done to it the previous day. "Poor Liddo-ya…that mean, nasty Karumi-ya hurt you so much. And in front of Naru-ya, too!" Taeko cutely said before allowing the doll to float into the younger woman's arms. "Look on the bottom, Naru-ya."

Naru blinked before she turned the plush doll around and looked…

…and then her jaw dropped in dumbfounded shock and disbelief on seeing the nine faded hiragana characters written there:

**うらしま けいたろう**

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"He gave this to me?" Naru then asked in a meek voice.

"Ne," Taeko said with a nod as she sat down close to Yūko. "As your father reminded you when he came here to see you, you stayed at the Hinata-sō when you were a child because of your leukaemia. Keitarō-ya was there at the time and he played with you, just like he did with all the other children who stayed there at the time since his father was working so hard to get his candy store in Hayama set up and his mother was helping out at the hotel to earn extra money." She crossed her arms. "Ironically, the first clear words you ever spoke — you were about two at the time — was 'Tōdai.' That was thanks to Mutsumi-ya. She had heard a silly old wives tale about how a couple who went to Tōkyō University would enjoy a happy life together after their graduation and had told Keitarō-ya about it. You overheard them, then began chanting the word 'Tōdai' every chance you got." As Mitsune snickered, Motoko giggled and all the Avalonians grinned on imagining a very young Naru chanting that word again and again, Taeko added, "A year later, Mutsumi-ya gave Keitarō-ya that." She pointed to the doll in Naru's hand. "Because you were also a fan of the show, he felt it was only right that you have it, so he gave it to you later. That was just before Mutsumi-ya convinced both Keitarō-ya and yourself that all of you should work to get into Tōkyō University. Which you're doing right now."

Naru blinked. "So he's always wanted to marry me?"

"In one sense of the term, yes," Taeko affirmed. "As you know, by the time he came to live at the Hinata-sō, Keitarō-ya had totally forgot who you were. All he _did_ remember was that he made an oath when he was five to meet up with a female childhood friend so they could get into Tōkyō University together. He would have liked the idea of eventually marrying said girl, but he knew — as his parents always taught him — that making a good life for himself and a future wife requires a lot of hard work. Thus he knew that it would be quite a while before he could even _**consider**_ anything like marriage. He also knew deep in his heart that the chance was there that the promise girl might not want to marry him. Which you convinced him of that night in the park when he told you about that promise."

"He must have been brokenhearted about that," Mitsune noted.

"He was," Taeko confirmed. "He came to talk to me about it afterwards in the Detached Hall. That's when I revealed to him that Naru-ya's motivation towards entering Tōkyō University was because of her crush on Seta Noriyasu." As Naru nearly choked on hearing THAT name — which made Iori slap her gently on the back to help her calm down — the new manager of the Hinata-sō added, "And while he was hurt over what he saw as Naru-ya's rejection of him, the rational side of Keitarō-ya realized that he had no real right to force a promise on Naru-ya if she couldn't remember that promise. Thus, he tried to move on with his life. It was quite hard, of course; Naru-ya is a very attractive woman and they did spend a lot of time studying together to prepare for the Centre Test." As her eyes twinkled in amusement on sensing Naru turn a very interesting shade of red — which made Mitsune grin on seeing how flustered her old schoolmate had become on hearing that sort of complement — Taeko added, "So there it was. He respected her desires but found himself becoming attracted to her in spite of all the times she hurt him because of his clumsy nature and bad luck. And that's what governed their relationship from his side until he went to Okinawa and met up with Mutsumi-ya for the first time in over a decade."

"Why didn't you tell Keitarō-kun about the fact that Naru-san was the promise girl, Taeko-sama?" Makoto then asked. "You were there when it was made."

"Ne, I was, Makoto-ya…but why on Earth would I compound what Hina did to both of them by forcing something like that on them? That's not right."

Naru blinked. "What do you mean?"

Taeko gazed on her. "The promise you all made fifteen years ago was to work together to go to Tōkyō University. That is it," she stated. "Back then, all three of you — you, Keitarō-ya and Mutsumi-ya — didn't care about silly things like marriage. You were three, Keitarō-ya was five and Mutsumi-ya just turned six and was about to start elementary school. What business did any of you have talking about something like marriage? Especially given the fact that if it ever came down to it, Keitarō-ya would be forced to make a choice between you and Mutsumi-ya." She then shook her head. "And that is something he would _never_ want to face, Naru-ya. You know that, don't you?"

The would-be Tōdai aspirant took a moment to consider that before nodding. "That's true…" she breathed out. "Sometimes he butts in when his help's not really needed or wanted, but he'd never do something like that."

"Taeko-sama, are you saying that Hina tricked your brother into coming to the Hinata-sō last year as a way of forcing Keitarō-san and Naru together?" Tamao asked.

"Ne, Tamao-ya," Taeko affirmed with a nod. "You see, Hina interpreted that promise to go to Tōkyō University Naru-ya and Keitarō-ya made…as a _**marriage agreement**_." As Naru croaked out in disbelief, the landlady nodded. "Ne, Naru-ya, it's all true. Remember, I was there, telepathically reading that woman's thoughts after she recalled who you were and what happened all those years ago after you asked her if you could come back to the Hinata-sō prior to the end of your first year of high school. Once she DID recall that, she saw a perfect chance to bring you two back together."

"For what?!" Naru demanded. "I didn't remember Keitarō at all! I certainly wouldn't remember something like this promise to go to Tōdai together with him! Hell, I didn't really decide I was going to work to get into Tōdai until after I met Seta-sensei and learned he had gone there! What business did Obā-chan have trying to force me together with a man I didn't even remember at the time — AFTER she promised me that the Hinata-sō would only be for girls! — out of some childhood promise to go to Tōdai?!"

"Because she probably couldn't think straight thanks to those blood ki wards she set up years ago to trap Karumi-san in the tunnels under the Hinata-sō."

Naru blinked before she looked up at Iori…and then she paled as she recalled what Karumi had told her the previous day about what had happened to her. "Why…?"

"She's a control freak," Mitsune breathed out, which made Naru and Motoko gape on hearing such a statement about Urashima Hina escaping the world-be writer's lips. "Taeko-san, did Obā-chan always plan to have Keitarō-kun take over the Hinata-sō?"

"Ne. It's in her will," Taeko confirmed. "Her ultimate plan was to see if Keitarō-ya could run the Hinata-sō AND get into Tōkyō University AND win Naru-ya's love to fulfil what she interpreted that promise fifteen years ago as. If he succeeded in doing all three things, she would transfer ownership of the Hinata-sō grounds to him."

Everyone took a moment to consider that. "That's a lot to land on one person's head," Makoto then concluded. "Even someone as hard-working as Keitarō-kun."

"Especially since the senile idiot went behind his back and _lied_ to him about that clause in the power of attorney papers registered in City Hall that would make sure Motoko and the others could stay there," Tamao added. "All she really had to do was tell Keitarō-san why she felt it was necessary to allow everyone to stay there."

The bank clerk nodded. "Agreed. If Hina had done that, he would have accepted it right then and there. There was no need to lie to him like that."

"Or did she want to force him into being abused by Naru and Motoko here?" Yūko asked.

Naru and Motoko both winced. "No, Yūko-ya, Hina never suspected that things would get as bad as they did," Taeko affirmed. "She believed that Keitarō-ya's helpful nature would win them over right from the very start."

"She still should have warned him about the Hinata-sō being made an all girls dorm house," Mitsune muttered. "Would've spared us a lot of problems right at the start."

By then, Maria was coming back with a tray full of tea and snacks. "Well, it's better late than never," the transformed sentient bisque doll said as she placed the tray on the table nearby so people could be served. "Besides, Miss Naru and Miss Iori need to come together first before they could ever contemplate having children with anyone." As Naru and Iori blushed on sensing the Avalonian-Frenchwoman's unspoken comment supporting their relationship, she added, "I'm sure that there must be a nice person for Miss Mutsumi to be with down where she lives now. And Mister Keitarō has Miss Karumi. Since the promise was for Mister Keitarō, Miss Naru and Miss Mutsumi to go to Tōkyō University — which all three of them are trying to do now — whatever happens concerning whoever they share their bed with has no bearing on the original promise."

"Maria-chan, I'm sorry but I've got to ask you this," Mitsune stated as Yūko moved to pour her some tea. "If you're spiritually French, why are you using _**English**_ honorifics?!"

A giggle answered her. "That's because of Mister Keisuke, Mister Keitarō's great-grandfather, Miss Mitsune," Maria answered. "Yes, I was first created in France, so French is my first true language. But at the time Mister Keisuke purchased me from the staff at Tōkyō University, he was teaching himself how to speak English as a way of making things easier between himself and the American service personnel who were staying at the Hinata-sō at the time because of the post-World War Two occupation, so he practised using English honorifics. As my own sentience was developing at that time, I caught onto the habit."

"You're the doll in the basement?" Naru asked.

"_Oui_," Maria answered as she handed the younger girl a cup of tea.

"So are you and Taeko-san lovers?" Mitsune teased.

Maria gasped as Taeko jerked, which made the would-be writer laugh. As the Avalonians all shared knowing looks, the former tsukumogami and tokkaebi gazed on the other before they turned to glare at Mitsune. THAT made the eldest of the Hinata-sō's original residents croak as Taeko and Maria then smirked. "Keep it up, Mitsune-ya, and I might decide to transform you INTO a fox!" the former then coldly warned.

"And we'll tie you up outside and make a nice dog house for you," the latter added as she wagged a warning finger.

Mitsune gulped as Naru rolled her eyes and Motoko shook her head…

* * *

A half-hour later…

"That was foolish of Sempai!"

A nude Tamao giggled as she moved to draw out the sonic shower head from the side of the stall in the bathroom located at one corner of Motoko's recovery room. As the wounded, nude kendō-ka used her arm strength to keep her body erect, holding the safety rails at the level of her hips to stay on her feet, the young track-and-field star began to clean her legs. "Yeah, it is kinda stupid to piss off a tsukumogami and a tokkaebi like that," she said as the warm pulses of condensed air danced over Motoko's lower legs. "Especially since Maria-san is still somewhat child-like — her original body was shaped as someone Shinobu-chan's age — deep in her heart and Taeko-sama has a lot of anger to work out of her because of what Master Hosan did to her back in 1603."

Motoko sighed. "She is not what I expected."

Tamao blinked. "Taeko-sama?"

"Hai. I expected her to look at me as if she was plotting my death. Yet she seemed so…playful and caring." The kendō-ka sighed as Tamao moved to clean her upper legs. "She is the Destroyer of Kyōto! She killed thousands all those years ago!" she then spat out.

"With pretty damn good reason," her would-be bond-mate reminded her. "After all, would _**you**_ have liked it if we forced a body-swap on you in a situation that wasn't life-threatening without your permission? Or if Kaolla-chan turned you into a cyborg without asking? I told you about those Steel Angels she fashioned as adult versions of herself and Shinobu-chan, remember? Look what she did to program Makiko-chan!"

Motoko grimaced. "Su-chan had an excuse, Tamao…"

"As did Taeko-sama all those years ago," Tamao told her as she moved to clean the area around Motoko's groin, which made the latter deeply blush. "It's practically the same thing. Yes, you've got a reason to be scared of her. Taeko-sama was practically enslaved by Master Hosan to serve as the special weapon of mass destruction for your clan and the Konoe Clan to use when you needed it…and now she's free of that enslavement and has a lot of magic to call on if she needs it, plus is righteously pissed off at a lot of people for abusing her like that in recent years. You told me about that stupid girl who uses Thoughtmistress-prime Tsukiko's style name as her battle name, didn't you?" At Motoko's nod, Tamao added, "Atop that, Taeko-sama's very close emotionally to the man you've always loved to lash out at over the last year, which would give her an excuse to lash right back at you in case you did something and she felt it wasn't just."

That made Motoko wince. "I did the right thing, Tamao!"

She then moaned as Tamao stood up to passionately kiss her. After a moment of duelling tongues, they slowly pulled apart, a string of drool connecting their lips. "I know you feel you did," the latter whispered before she got back to work cleaning the former's body. "And in a way, you had a right to be concerned about this man that was dropped into your life like that. Still, didn't you hear what Taeko-sama said about what motivated Hina to bring Keitarō-san to the Hinata-sō in the first place?"

The kendō-ka shuddered as she tried to say something in denial over what her girlfriend just noted…before she breathed out in frustration. Even if she still found it quite hard to believe deep in her heart, her ki senses hadn't lied to her. Everything Taeko had said in the lounge earlier was the truth…which meant that everything concerning what Urashima Hina had done both in the last two years concerning Naru and Keitarō — not to mention forty years ago concerning Dō Karumi! — was all _true_! But…!

Tamao breathed out. "Motoko-vayae, which martial art school teaches how to properly use blood ki wards?" she then asked as she moved to gently embrace the other woman.

Motoko blinked before she breathed out, "Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū."

"What did Ataru-san do on his sixth birthday?"

Another sigh answered her. "Made the Promise of Bunka Go-nen."

"What happened when Ataru-san visited Okusei?"

"The Promise was fulfilled. Negako-sama became her own person at last."

"So who could you ask to confirm what Hina did to Karumi-san?"

That question made Motoko blush. "Negako-sama…"

"So I will ask her to come up here to visit you tomorrow," Tamao promised.

The kendō-ka blinked. "You've met her?"

"Hai. Since Negako-sama and Taeko-sama are friends, she'll be staying at the Hinata-sō until those idiots Ataru-san had to deal with back in Tomobiki are either made to finally accept that his life belongs to him or he decides to go live somewhere else," the athlete stated as she moved to clean Motoko's upper body, which made the wounded woman gasp as those pulses of compressed air danced over her nipples. As Tamao smirked on sensing that flash of arousal from her girlfriend, she added, "Or if those idiots do something really stupid that makes Ataru-san unleash the Cyborg on them and kill them all. I hope it doesn't go that far. Yeah, people like Mendō, Megane and the rest of them are complete morons at times, but they don't deserve THAT!"

Motoko slowly nodded as she tried not to shiver too much on recalling the ghastly images of a half-man/half-machine monster rampaging through the heart of the bioroid factory she had seen the previous day thanks to recordings taken by the internal security systems of the factory. Recalling the gruesome sight of the Cyborg literally _**ripping**_ the head and spine out of Otako odai-Meinyak — the then-governor of Phentax Twelve and the physical template of the current president of the Avalonian provisional government — without hesitation, the kendō-ka breathed out as she felt Tamao go to work on her right arm.

"Will they be told?" she asked.

Tamao shook her head. "No. Karumi-san warned Negako-sama to hold the news of the Cyborg back unless it really became necessary," she said as she shifted herself around to allow Motoko to wrap her arm around her girlfriend's shoulder so she could clean the hand. As the athlete tried not to blush too much on sensing the hard points of her girlfriend's nipples press into the lower side of her shoulder blades, she added, "If the Moroboshi siblings hit the people in Tomobiki with THAT right now…"

"Far too much, far too soon."

"Hai."

"Could you tell me what the real situation is inside Tomobiki?" Motoko then asked as Tamao allowed her to put the right hand back on the rail, raising her left arm in turn to allow the latter to clean that. "I mean, we've heard all the rumours…"

"Now you want the facts."

"Hai. The chances are there that those people might come down to Hinata if they learn Negako-sama is staying there. I don't want any of us hurt."

"They'll have to get past Taeko-sama's magical wards first."

"Even magic can be defeated, Tamao."

Tamao sighed. "True…"

* * *

Tomobiki, the Toranoseishin Finances Tower, a half-hour later…

"So if the curse wasn't removed, my baby…"

Moroboshi Negako nodded. "Would have most likely died of leukaemia," she answered. "That illness has appeared from time to time in both sides of your family, has it not?"

Inu Chigaiko's parents, Akira and Kindan, both nodded. They — along with their elder daughter Fuchiko — were meeting with the ninjutsu grandmaster in the small medical station located a floor down from the senior executive offices. "Dear gods!" Kindan breathed out as she fought back tears. "How on Earth could that just be IGNORED like that?! That stupid shrine maiden who works there should've picked up on it!"

"Once Sakura was taken on as staff at Tomobiki High School, she was targeted by the geas' controlling intelligence as were all the others who work or study there," Negako explained. "Thus, she was subjected to the geas' full effect when Matabei came to the school last Hallowe'en evening. The geas ensured she could never remember Chigaiko's name. That ensured she could not associate that name with your daughter, as was done to all the other staff members. And since the students — outside Ataru — were also affected by this, there was no one available who could question what was happening. Due to the fact that those of Chigaiko's friends were more often distracted by events centred on Hensō, they did not take immediate notice of the fact that they had all forgotten her name. By the time they would have concerned themselves with that situation, the geas' effects had fully settled in, thus forcing them to not concentrate on the fact that they could not recall the name of a person they closely associated with. Not even the members of the girls basketball team — to say anything of their coach — could fight the geas' power at that point."

"Damn!" Fuchiko breathed out.

"But the curse IS gone, isn't it?!" Akira asked. "My baby won't be affected by it anymore, will she?! She'll have a normal life now?"

Negako nodded. "Hai, Akira, the geas has been destroyed. Once Chigaiko recovers from the psychological damage she has suffered because of the geas, she can live her life as if it had never affected her in the first place." A light smile crossed her face. "Save for the fact that she will be far more capable of resisting the peer pressure her female classmates will certainly try to force on her because of their overwhelming attraction to Mendō Shūtarō and their desire to ensure that no support can be given to Ataru. Ataru's campaign to force all his former classmates to accept what they learned when they were on Uru as the truth ultimately demands that Shūtarō be made to understand that he cannot take any further liberties with my brother as he did beforehand. Once they take note of that, those women who are strongly attracted to Shūtarō — as personified by the Rosebuds — will gladly do as much as they can to restore things to the way they perceive was 'normal' before the turn of the New Year."

"Don't worry about Chisa and her idiots at Butsumetsu, Negako-san," Fuchiko coldly stated. "I'll make damn sure that bitch understands that crushing on old Sword-for-Brains will be a _**very**_ unhealthy thing to do from now on."

"But will that stop the Rosebuds as a whole?" Kindan asked. "They are a large group."

"Almost a quarter of them are Butsumetsu girls, Kā-chan," Fuchiko answered. "Once they're out of the way, Ogin won't be able to stand on her own two feet. Take out the girls from Butsumetsu Girl's as well, that'll be nearly half the whole membership."

"I am sure Shūtarō's sister Ryōko will be willing to assist in that matter if you wish to speak to her about this," Negako stated. "She certainly enjoys doing anything that causes her brother harm, even psychological harm." As Chigaiko's parents both shook their heads and Fuchiko smirked, the ninjutsu grandmaster added, "Removing a good portion of his 'fan base' here in Tomobiki will strike Shūtarō quite hard even if he does not associate with them as much as he does his female peers at Tomobiki High School. Even more so once a plan the Avalonians in town will initiate tonight bears the necessary fruit. Such a plan could involve Chigaiko if she desires to render assistance."

"What are they planning?" Akira wondered.

"I will not say at this time; they have asked for my silence on this matter," their host responded. "But be assured, Chigaiko will not come to any further harm. While Ataru may not desire to reciprocate her feelings towards him because of the issues of her support of Shūtarō prior to Hallowe'en and his still recovering from the ending of his intimate relationship with Kyech, he does not wish your daughter permanent injury. Since Ataru does care for her as a friend, Chigaiko is under my overall protection."

The others nodded in understanding. "Will he ever want to come back?" Kindan asked. "Especially given that he knows the truth about his brother?"

"Ataru does not hate Muchi or Kinshō," Negako affirmed. "In comparison to what Aruka Ran suffered when she was a child — as Damasu remembered when she came to seek 'vengeance' on Hensō since it was Lum who always provoked those incidents that Ran was harshly punished for by her mother Chena — what abuse Ataru suffered at the hands of his parents was ultimately minor. However, with Tariko and Hiromi now a part of what he views as his immediate family, he would desire neither of them to endure what he has endured, especially given Kinshō's mania towards controlling everything that occurs inside that house. Which — given that Hiromi is now the Matriarch of the Clan, thus forcing Muchi to confront that which he never truthfully desired to deal with — will make Ataru's parents feel quite outnumbered should we all choose to live there." She smirked as she crossed her arms. "Furthermore — much that it surprises me to state something like this — there are three Avalonians in town who desire Muchi as their _surei'cha_."

All three people gaped. "You're shitting us!" Fuchiko exclaimed.

"No, I am not deceiving you, Fuchiko," Negako stated. "They were the adopted sisters of Hoss bedai-Diyasbugh, the leader of the Niphentaxian observers here in Tomobiki. They were all cloned off Hoss' real sisters, who died years ago in a shuttle accident on Phentax Two. Their Terran names are Hayasaka Asagi, Hayasaka Torako and Hayasaka Fūka. I can now state that Hiromi has granted her permission for Asagi, Torako and Fūka to seek out Muchi romantically…as Nagaiwakai _never_ formally acknowledged Kinshō as her daughter-in-law via the proper rituals our clan follow to welcome new members."

Chigaiko's relatives gaped at her before Kindan — who had been a senior at Tomobiki High School when Yamaguchi Kinshō was a freshman twenty years ago — laughed. "Oh, gods! Kinshō will HATE that!" she exclaimed before shrugging. "Well, if the stupid sex-crazed idiot can't appreciate her still having ONE son alive and well, that's _her_ damned fault!"

"I'm sure a lot of people in town would like to hear that," Akira added. He had been a year ahead of his future wife at Tomobiki High; he remembered well about how the so-called "goddess of love" had gladly tried to break up some active relationships — even the one between Inu Akira and Maijima Kindan! — in her hunt for intimate companionship.

"Oh, indeed so!" Kindan declared.

Fuchiko was trying not to laugh. "You're fuckin' EVIL, Negako-san!"

Negako smirked. "Considering that I did far more for Ataru in a period of over ten years than Kinshō did in over sixteen years, Fuchiko, do you blame me?"

More laughter filled the room. "Are you going to become Ataru-kun's legal guardian, Negako-san?" Kindan then asked.

"I will hold off on that for the time being since matters aboard the bioroid factory concern Ataru more," the ninjutsu grandmaster answered. "However, certain things have already been started concerning Muchi and Kinshō. Reigi now has orders to close their bank accounts with Inshin and return the funds to them; Hiromi has decided that until both learn to be civil, they will not be supported by Toranoseishin Finances. With Komeru off on his current safari in Mexico, neither Muchi nor Kinshō will have the means to appeal to him for assistance should something interesting occur in the near future."

Her current guests nodded. It always mystified people in Tomobiki that the Moroboshi home could be rebuilt to mint condition almost immediately after the many odd disasters that struck it from time to time…such as the one incident where the combined forces of the Mendō and Redet Clans destroyed the building in the wake of Kinshō scamming Mendō Haruka and Redet Chim of money during Parent's Day in mid-September. Given that Muchi's elder brother Komeru was the current chief executive officer of the Inshin Group, those miraculous repairs now made a world of sense. "Well, given that the Oni are now gone from this world, I think things might calm down finally," Akira breathed out.

"Knock on wood," Fuchiko muttered…

* * *

Minutes later…

"Here you go, Chigaiko-sempai."

A bleary-eyed Inu Chigaiko blinked before she nodded her thanks as Maehara Shinobu placed the tray of food down before her. "Dōmo," the once-unknown member of Tomobiki High School's Class 1-4 breathed out before she picked up the tea and sipped from it. She then picked up the plate of Korean chapch'ae with a side order of steamed rice and began to eat. As the wonderful mixture of spices, sesame oil, soy sauce and the many flavours of the vegetables and marinated beef danced over her taste buds, she moaned out, "Damn! You're really a great cook, Shinobu-chan! You must keep all the folks at the Hinata-sō happier than clams if your cooking's always like this!"

Shinobu blushed. "Sempai!"

"It's true," the older girl said before slurping up some noodles. "So Ataru-kun and his sisters are staying down in Hinata, right? Keitarō-sempai's okay with it?"

"Well, only Negako-san will stay there full-time. Ataru-sempai, Tariko-sempai and Hiromi-sempai will spend most of their time on the bioroid factory," Shinobu answered as she sat down across from Chigaiko in the small guest room the latter had been given for the night so Negako could monitor her recovery from the curse that Ataru had — by proxy — burned out of her earlier in the day. "But they'll come down every five days — staggered, of course — to spend a couple days recovering from all the emotional trauma they'll sense from all those hurt people up there to relax at the Hinata-sō." She then sighed. "I only just hope that Naru-sempai and Motoko-sempai don't react too badly to it."

"Yeah, those two are pretty notorious when it comes to going nuts on would-be perverts. Can't understand why Keitarō-sempai never booted them out on their asses long ago because they did that to him all the time. That's a stupid thing to do to your _landlord_!"

"Well, until earlier today, he _**couldn't**_ do that," Shinobu stated. On seeing the confusion crossed Chigaiko's face, the middle school freshman explained what she had learned on Thursday afternoon prior to the rescue of Dō Karumi and her bonding with Keitarō.

At the end of that, Chigaiko could only make a face. "You're kidding me!"

"You can find the copies of the power of attorney papers — both the ones that were registered with City Hall and the copy Sempai got — on the HyperNet." Shinobu then perked. "Are there Avalonians attending your school, Sempai?"

Ataru's former classmate shook her head. "No, not yet. Since the place was the Niphentaxians' 'holy citadel,' the idiots who controlled that bomb that was buried here didn't want to have it 'soiled' by the presence of their 'robot' slaves!" she stated with a disgusted sneer in her voice. "Bastards! Thank the gods that I never attracted any attention from them! Did the girls down in Hinata tell you about their 'holy book?'"

"I haven't asked them about it," the youngest of the Hinata-sō's original residents reported. "Why? What's so wrong about that?"

"Oh, nothing much," Chigaiko sarcastically replied. "Other than the fact that the idiots here in town were ordered to SPY on the DIARIES of people like Mendō, Megane and his nerds, Miyake, Sakurambō and her uncle…not to mention all of the Oni's friends from space like Shigaten and Aruka!" As Shinobu gaped, the older woman nodded. "Hai, it's all true. They used little robot probes that would — usually on a day when the person who owns the diary wasn't there to see this — fly into their bedroom, then take copies of the diary to be transmitted back to the observers in town. And here's the cute part about it!" she then added as she raised a finger in emphasis. "When the diary copies were transmitted back to Phentax Two to update the _Book of Lum_ — that's what they actually called this thing! — the words were twisted around to ensure the 'party line' was followed." She made finger-quotes on saying that. "Which eventually saw Ataru-kun called the 'great evil' in the editions that came out after Kyech-san took him to Okusei! When he didn't DO a fuckin' thing to truly hurt their precious 'goddess'…since the girl he was supposedly 'married' to was a damned FAKE!" She shook her head before moving to finish the chapch'ae. "No wonder Ataru-kun had to go destroy them! He was under a fuckin' _**fatwā**_ — or whatever the hell they call it there! — from people he didn't even KNOW!"

Shinobu was pale. "That's horrible…!"

"Yeah! And you want to know what the worst part about it was?!" Chigaiko asked. "That malfunctioning idiot that starting wrecking Ataru-kun's life back in June was under orders from that fat bastard she called a father to NEVER say a word about her so-called 'most faithful' to anyone here on Earth! ESPECIALLY the man she supposedly loved!" She shook her head before shrugging. "Well, that proved how much Redet NEVER loved Ataru-kun! Damned good thing that Kyech-san and Nengmek'i-sama came along like they did! Who knows what might have happened if things between Ataru-kun and Redet progressed even further!"

Shinobu hummed. "I'm sure Negako-san would have had something to say about that."

The older woman blinked before she giggled. "Yeah, that's true, isn't it?!" she wondered before sighing as she sipped her tea. "Well, Redet's gone and won't come back. I hope!" she added before sitting back in her chair. "It'll be so strange…"

"What?"

"Not having to put up with Redet and the rest of that crowd from now on," Chigaiko mused as she gazed up at the ceiling. "I can see why most of the people in town are freaking out like they are. She did really impact a lot of lives here." She then shrugged. "Well, it's for the best. Good riddance to that whole stupid lot. If they couldn't respect us, they deserve to have their asses kicked off the…"

A knock echoed. Shinobu perked on sensing an Avalonian on the other side of the closed door leading to Chigaiko's guest room, then walked over to open it. "Hai?"

"Gomen ne, Shinobu-chan," a playful voice called out. "Can I come in?"

Chigaiko's head snapped over. "Midori-sensei!"

A chuckle escaped the red-haired, green-eyed tomboy in the turtleneck sweater and form-fitting jeans — wearing a rosary around her neck — that just walked into the room. Morisaki Midori was the physically oldest of the Avalonians who had been inserted into Butsumetsu High School. Currently the girls gym teacher, she was — as was typical of Avalonian teachers currently in Japan — quite popular amongst the students, both boys and girls. Chigaiko herself knew that her sister once had a deep crush on Midori; the gym teacher's master/elder brother had been assigned to the old Nerima observation post before the Tag Race and the "Goddess' Migration to Earth" saw him become one of several team leaders assigned to watch over the "holy city." As Midori herself had confessed to a special school assembly mustered by the principal of Butsumetsu High on Friday when it was announced that she and several other Avalonian members of the staff would be kept on despite their false education records, she had been created as a "living memorial" to her brother's true sister, who died of the deadly Hifuto Syndrome virus in a mini-outbreak on Phentax Three ten years ago. She was also bonded to a co-worker, freshman classics teacher Araki Nami; both had enjoyed their "times of the month" — Chigaiko had laughed when Fuchiko told her that nickname Avalonians came up with for the drive to seek out one's _marei'cha_ — early Thursday morning after the bioroid factory had come into the system.

"Hey, Chigaiko!" Midori said as she leaned down to warmly kiss the younger girl on the lips. "How are you feeling now?"

"Tired…but full, too!" Chigaiko admitted. "Hey, Shinobu-chan! You got some more chapch'ae to give Sensei?! She'll love your cooking!"

Shinobu laughed. "Hai! Just a moment!"

She ran off for the nearby kitchen. Midori watched her go before she moved to sit across from Ataru's former classmate. "At least she's adjusting well to the body-swap," she mused. "So how does it feel to be free of that damned curse?"

"Did you know about it?" Chigaiko asked.

The physical education teacher shook his head. "No, we didn't suspect it at all," she confessed. "Then again, given what this curse did to you…"

The high school freshman blinked before breathing out, "Hai, that's true. You were all dependant on the diary copies from people like Miyake and the others, so you couldn't suspect what was going on. Since the place was your masters' 'holy citadel'…" She shook her head. "Well, it's gone once and for all. I hope to hell that idiot who started this whole mess got the message Negako-san put out earlier today. Pity that stupid witch that killed his girlfriend died off some years ago. I would've loved to see Onē-chan and her friends go postal on the bitch!" She sighed. "Bad enough that Rumiko-san's grandfather didn't apologize at all about voting against the Immigration Act even after he found out that Ataru-kun saved his life at the Diet Building today!"

"Don't worry about that idiot," Midori stated. "Hiromi-chan wasn't impressed by that either. She's already told Reigi-san and his friends here to make Dietman Tsuruya understand that he best resign his seat if he doesn't want some embarrassing secrets made public." She winked. "The same sort of secrets Dietman Asami's predecessor didn't want revealed."

That made Chigaiko grimace. "Damn…"

The other woman made a dismissive wave of her hand. "Don't worry about it," she repeated before she perked as Shinobu came back with a plate of chapch'ae and some chopsticks. Picking up the latter, she dug in…and then groaned with delight. "Oh, Lyna! That's divine! You think you can come over to my place to teach Nami-vayae that, Shinobu-chan?!"

Shinobu blushed as Chigaiko laughed. "You might want to get Nami-sensei to go down to Hinata instead, Sensei," the latter warned. "With the way the idiots in this town are hell-bent on trying to hurt Ataru-kun any which way possible, it'll be safer."

That made Midori smile. "Would you like to help?" she asked.

Ataru's former classmate blinked. "What do you mean, Sensei?"

The gym teacher placed the plate down on the table between them. "Right now, the chances of Ataru-kun going back to Tomobiki High School are about fifty-fifty. That's according to what Negako-sama briefed us on when we all had a private meeting here on Thursday. Yes, he has the skills to take down anyone in this town who might want to take him on for whatever reason, but he doesn't want to waste his time dealing with idiots who can't see past the bridge of their own noses. And he doesn't want to worry about Tariko-chan and Hiromi-chan…even if both can defend themselves." She smirked. "Typical big brother feelings for his sisters." As Chigaiko nodded, Midori added, "But if he and his sisters move elsewhere — say to Hinata…" — she waved to Shinobu in emphasis — "…what happens then? Will people like Mendō let him go or try to pursue him even to another city? You have a good point about what might happen if the _de'ne'a_ here race down to Hinata if they suspect Ataru-kun's there."

"Taeko-sempai will stop them, Sensei," Shinobu stated. "Since she's now the landlady of the Hinata-sō and has the moral and legal responsibility to protect the grounds from intruders, she could do whatever she wants to keep us all safe. Even Ataru-sempai."

"Who's Taeko?" Chigaiko asked.

"Urashima Taeko-sama, formerly T'aeja of Chosŏn, the Destroyer of Kyōto," Midori said. "A tokkaebi who was responsible for the Great Fire of 1603. As powerful magically as Thompkins-shōsa herself." As Chigaiko gaped in shock, the older woman added, "And yes, as Shinobu-chan here just said, Taeko-sama could stop anything Mendō pulls in its tracks. I doubt Mendō's grandfather would like to see his heir and successor turned into a magpie for the rest of his life, especially since Ryōko-chan doesn't really care at all about taking over the reins of power at the Conglomerate." She then sat back in her chair. "However, as you and I both can agree, people like Mendō — for all their selfishness and single-mindedness — don't deserve to be _**killed**_. Ne?"

The younger woman blinked before nodding. "Hai, that's true."

"Atop that, there's the whole issue of Hiromi-chan having been the Reitei Emperor of the Gokan in her previous life," Midori added. "That's the ONE person that all the tōshi of the Seven Schools would follow without hesitation." She then glanced at Shinobu. "And don't tell Keitarō-kun's fiancée about this, Shinobu-chan. Hiromi-chan's got too much on her plate already to deal with idiots falling to their knees and worshipping her like my master would have if he ever met Hensō directly. Okay?"

Shinobu blinked before nodding. "Hai, Sensei!"

"Good." To Chigaiko. "Now, to make sure that things which would be seen as a lot more tolerable by the government start happening, we want to insert some of our sisters into Tomobiki High School as soon as possible. We'd like your help in doing that."

Chigaiko took a moment to consider that before she gazed intently at Midori. "You want to allow me to become an Avalonian?" she asked. "Just like you did for Shinobu-chan here?" She pointed to Shinobu. "How would that help get Ataru-kun to come back to school?"

"Well, if you want to become an Avalonian, we can do that without hesitation," Midori stated. "All you have to do is talk to any of the group elder mothers in town and it's done in an hour. I'd recommend you wait until spring break, though." As Chigaiko nodded while a mix of trepidation and anticipation flooded her heart — the two Avalonians in the room were quick to sense that — the teacher then added, "But there's another way to help out here." She then looked at the open doorway. "Misuk-a! C'mon in here!"

"What's Misuk-a doing here?!" Chigaiko instantly demanded.

Footsteps echoed in the hallway, causing Shinobu to gasp in shock. "Relax, Shinobu-chan. You'll understand what's going on in just a minute," she stated as someone appeared at the door. "C'mon in, Misuk-a."

"Hai, Sensei!" Hyŏng Misuk, a girl who was originally from Takamatsu on Shikoku and descent from Kwangju in South Chŏlla Province in Korea, was someone Chigaiko's age who currently attended the Saeng'ya Seminar in Tomobiki. Ataru's former classmate had seen Misuk from time to time all around town. The green-haired tomboy with the gorgeous hazel eyes was always busy delivering for the Rāmen Nekohanten — one of the most popular eateries close to Tomobiki High School — when she wasn't studying to do a high school equivalency examination to start full-time regular schooling; as to why she had missed out on so much regular school, Chigaiko had no idea whatsoever. Misuk had delivered food to the Inu residence many times before; both of Chigaiko's parents worked for Honda at their plant in the city of Sayama northwest of Tomobiki, so Fuchiko and her sister often ordered takeout when they weren't in the mood to cook.

"Hey!" she then called out as she walked over to embrace the other girl, which Chigaiko immediately returned; Misuk had been one of the people in town who — thanks to her NOT going to Tomobiki High School as had just been revealed — had become very close friends to Ataru's former classmate. "You okay, Chigaiko-chan? You didn't get hurt too bad when Ataru-kun burned the curse out of that bastard at the Diet this afternoon, did you?"

Chigaiko shook her head. "Well, Negako-san said I'll be fine, but she wants to keep me here overnight to make sure of it," she stated. "What are you doing here, Misuk-a?"

Misuk took a deep breath. "I want you to be my owner and mistress, Chigaiko-sama."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"EH?!" Chigaiko croaked.

Misuk gave her an apologetic smile. "I better show you."

She then moved to open up her shirt…

* * *

A minute later…

Negako tensed on hearing someone's body hit the floor, that followed by a pair of shocked gasps, from the direction of Chigaiko's guest room. The ninjutsu grandmaster — who had just escorted the relatives of her brother's old classmate out of the building so they could go home — took a deep breath before she walked over to gaze into the room in question. "I assume, Midori, Chigaiko understands Misuk's current problem?" she asked.

Midori chuckled as she watched Misuk — who had opened up a circuit hatch on her skin over her breastbone to show Chigaiko what she really was — fret over the other woman, who had dropped to the floor in a dead faint on seeing something she would have normally associated with _Star Trek_ despite all she had seen in Tomobiki since the Tag Race. "I think she does!" the teacher confessed as she crossed her arms.

"How's that possible, Negako-san?!" a white-faced Shinobu then asked.

"That is unknown to me at this time, Shinobu," Negako stated. "But be assured, once we ensure the safety of Misuk and her sisters in Tomobiki, we will find out."

The younger girl took that in before nodding…

* * *

Near Tomobiki High School, that moment…

"Um…Taeko-sama?"

"Ne, Yō-ssi?"

"Is there some odd reason you asked me to come with you on this walk?"

Taeko giggled in amusement as she gazed upon her current companion while they both proceeded down Kita-Teibō 5-dōri, the street that passed in front of the main gate of the most infamous high school in Japan. "There is method to my madness, Dragon Sun," the tokkaebi-turned-sorceress advised as she gazed knowingly upon him, making Hinomura Yō perk in shock on realizing that she knew what he really was. "Given that it is the ultimate intention of Hiromi-ya and her siblings to return to this sad place, that the poor fools here in the Gathering Place of Friends whose childish fantasies threatened the safety of the whole PLANET for over a half-year still don't comprehend the true dangers we all face must be dealt with as quickly as possible." She sighed as she gazed ahead of them. "Sŏnbae-nim — for all the breadth and depth of knowledge she possesses — really doesn't care either which way for anyone else save her immediate siblings and the Steel Angels. Thus she will not proactively react to any further threats against Ataru-ya and his sisters; she's confident enough that they can face down anything that confronts them…which they can. However, such force…"

"Is like using a _**napalm bomb**_ to clear out a rat infestation inside a house in the middle of a city," he finished for her, nodding in understanding.

"Ne. Atop that, Hiromi-ya is too far influenced by the guilt now overwhelming her innermost heart over what happened to all her countrymen in the wake of the Samguk era in China eighteen centuries ago. For one who once sat on the Dragon Throne, she is now driven too much by the passions of a _ponghwang_ — to say anything of her desires to protect her new family — to really think things out clearly. That may make her react far too violently if some _pabo_ here attacks her brother, even with words. I doubt that Hiromi-ya would desire to launch her first life in 1,821 years haunted with something like THAT, ne?"

Another nod from the man known throughout the underworld as Crying Freeman. "Hai, that's true. It's a pity that Ataru-kun's power is not that of a true dragon; he could help balance Hiromi-san's needs and desires well. That would make him the perfect Patriarch for his clan, ready to fight for his clan and matriarch at a moment's notice."

"Ne…but we have to accept what's happened to Ataru-ya and work with that," she affirmed; Taeko had telepathically shown Yō what she had seen earlier in the day at the Wafū Chabō Hinata. "And like Sŏnbae-nim, Ataru-ya is just far too powerful and far too angry at many things to allow him to unleash himself on the poor fools here at this time. Should they push him too far…"

A grim nod answered her. "Hai."

Taeko's grey eyes then twinkled. "Besides, you need the chance to determine what your best path of approach will be concerning that young artist you introduced yourself to just after you dealt with that traitor to your clan in Hyanghang, ne?"

Yō tried not to grin too much on realizing that this incredible kami in human form walking beside him had sensed _that_; as he was knowledgeable in several languages — including Korean — he was quick to recognize her interpretation of the characters that were normally read in English as "Hong Kong." "She practically asked me to kill her," he then whispered.

A hum escaped her lips. "That mystifies you, doesn't it?"

"Hai. But given that she told me where she lived after I introduced myself to her…"

She hummed. "Did she touch you?"

He nodded. "Hai. When she gave me her handkerchief so I could wipe away my tears." The deadly assassin then took a deep breath. "Could she be…?"

"Possibly. Do you know where she lives?"

"Hai."

"Then when I get the chance, I will look in on her. You and your friend can stay at the Hinata-sō for the time being to rest up and prepare yourselves for the other issue you have to deal with."

Yō blinked on hearing that offer before nodding his thanks. "You are too kind."

"You are a friend of Sŏnbae-nim's. Your clan is allied to hers. It is no…"

"Why, T'aeja! Is that you?!"

Taeko perked before she looked over…

…and then she laughed on seeing what — to Yō — seemed to personify the insane craziness that had haunted Tomobiki since long before the Tag Race: An honest-to-goodness _**kasa-obake**_ of all things, now hopping towards her on its single leg! "Ashi-ya! Is that you?!" she cried out as the approaching umbrella-form tsukumogami allowed a pair of arms to appear from its sides as it hobbled over to embrace her. "My, it's been so long!"

"Ever since Konoemon-san came to visit my owner's house just after I woke up," the sentient umbrella stated in a roughly male voice before he pulled back to gaze around her with his lone eye on the gaping Triad assassin. "Oh, my! The Dragon Sun?! Now, why on Earth are you walking around with this fellow here?!" He then gazed intently at the tokkaebi-turned-sorceress. "You're not being threatened, are you?!" he hissed.

"Oh, stop that, Ashi-ya!" Taeko scolded as Yō found himself grinning at the absurd idea of him being a bodyguard for the _**Destroyer of Kyōto**_ of all the sentient beings on Earth! "Poor Yō-ssi is having issues with a potential target of his, so I'm giving him the chance to relax while I deal with seven poor souls that silly Hensō girl helped create not so long ago; it's a favour for both Sŏnbae-nim and the Hyoyŏng Emperor of the Huhan."

He nodded before turning to look up. "Did you hear that, Dear?!" he then asked.

"Honey, I know that already!" an airy female voice called back as Yō found himself gaping on seeing a _**raincloud**_ of all things come to a hover near them. "Hello, T'aeja-sama…" She then caught herself before giggling as the elements of her physical form seemed to lighten. "Whoops! I forgot you have a new name now! And such a cute name, too!"

"I don't mind that when it's the wife of an old friend." Taeko then peered intently at her for a moment before she sighed. "Oh, dear…you did yourself quite the injury sometime ago, didn't you?! It's amazing how much I can really see things now that I'm no longer trapped in my old body! What on Earth possessed you to do something like that?!"

The raincloud seemed to literally blush a very deep grey shade as she wiggled in embarrassment. "Can I admit to being stupid?" she pleaded.

"What happened?" Yō demanded.

Ashi tried not to grin too much. "My wife here was actually my old owner before I became truly alive, Yō-san," he stated. "May I present Netamu Ameko, former master enchantress of His Imperial Majesty's Magical Commandery of Kantō. Dear, this is Hinomura Yō, the Freeman of the Society of the 108 Dragons of Shàolín."

Yō bowed respectfully to the transformed sorceress. Ever since he had been dragged into the world of the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì four years ago, he had been thoroughly trained to recognize all the signs of any type of magical user that he might encounter in his missions. While he was physically skilled enough to deal with the normal run of opponents, dealing with magicals was a whole different matter. As a general rule, members of the most powerful of mainland China's triad societies tried to avoid magicals as much as possible. When contact couldn't be avoided though, respectful actions were the rule of the day; the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, after all, always worked **_both_** ways. "I'm honoured to make you acquaintance, Ameko-sama."

The raincloud bowed its mass in turn. "The one who always sheds tears for those who would bring harm to his adopted clan that he's forced to kill," she intoned politely in turn. "I'm honoured to make your acquaintance as well, Yō-san. What brings you back to your homeland?"

"I was there when Ataru-kun made the Promise to give freedom to the Earth Angel ten years ago in the town park," Yō explained as Taeko reached down to heft Ashi up by his lone leg so he could sit on her shoulder. The transformed Ameko moved to drift beside them as they headed down the street. "Chance brought me back here when Negako-sama came to Earth for the first time in her own body. I'm here to eliminate two targets. One of them threatens the safety of those we have vowed to guard while acting under the veneer of respectability…and the other threatens me personally…" He sighed as he gazed up at the darkening sky overhead. "Even if she knows what I am and seems to desire that I end her life as soon as it is possible," he added in a hushed whisper.

"Sŏnbae-nim and I will help him there," Taeko added as she gazed up on Ameko.

"That's good," Ameko mused. "What are you doing here, Taeko-sama? Everyone knows you protect the Hinata-sō down by Yokosuka. This is a little out of the way for someone like you."

"But not out of the way for Motoko-ya whenever she smacked Keitarō-ya this way, usually dropping him on top of poor Ataru-ya's forehead," the transformed tokkaebi added as they came to the closed front gates of Tomobiki High School. With a wave of her free hand — her other hand was wrapped around Ashi's leg to help support her friend while he rode on her shoulder — she magically unlocked the gate and walked inside, her companions following. "Even though he'll be busy with those poor girls up in orbit, Ataru-ya will need the chance to rest and recuperate in a nice hot spring, so he'll come down every once in a while to spend a couple days' rest at the Hinata-sō." She gestured with her hand to close the gate behind them. "Now, Yō-ssi, if you'll hold my friend for a moment…"

"Hai!"

As Yō took Ashi by the leg to allow him to sit on the assassin's shoulder, Taeko waved her hands as she whispered a prayer in ancient Korean. Purple fire then exploded from her palms to strike a place near the windows of Class 1-4. That then billowed up to form seven humanoid figures, which soon solidified into ghostly images of seven of the most prominent members of the most infamous high school class in the world.

"Hey!" the quasi-replica of Aisuru Satoshi gasped with relief. "We're saved!"

Yō gaped in confusion…

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, inside Class 1-4…

"So all of you were ultimately created by a special projector Hensō-chan brought here to help finish off a class film about school violence?" Yō demanded.

The seven ghostly replicas of Redet Hensō, Miyake Shinobu, Mendō Shūtarō and the four core members of Lum's Stormtroopers all grinned. "Tcha!" Hensō's double affirmed in her native tongue as she sat down atop her template's old desk. Given that she was the effective leader of the fictional "gang," she had her hair done up in an afro to allow her to hide some weapons. Atop that, she wore an extra-long seifuku skirt that — in the film — allowed her to keep a couple swords hidden. "When Hensō volunteered to loan her projector to help finish the film Darling was directing, the energy cells that powered the damned thing keyed into the ley lines under the earth here. That's what made us all come alive to deal with those idiots from Butsumetsu High who came to rumble."

"But when the projector was deactivated, our spirits didn't disperse," Mendō's replica — who wore a knee-length silver gakuran jacket and had a scar on the right cheek — added. "We were stuck literally between being alive and being nothing." He gazed on Taeko. "It amazes me that someone like YOU took interest in this, Taeko-sama! Your reputation as the Destroyer of Kyōto is known to me through my other-self."

"Blame Moroboshi Negako-sŏnbaenim for that, Shūtarō-ssi," Taeko stated. "She sensed you were all still 'alive' — so to speak — when she came here on Wednesday last to get rid of that bomb that was buried by your other-self's 'most faithful' in the town Ginza. Since she has to deal with the issue of poor Chigaiko-ya and what happened to her now…"

"She's not badly hurt, is she?!" Perm's replica demanded.

"You got a crush on her, man?" the double of Daremo "Kakugari" Hiroyuki leered. Like the twins of the other Stormtroopers, he had mirror-shades over his eyes and wore a leather bomber jacket over his T-shirt to make them seem akin to bōsōzoku…even if, in the case of the double of Urayamu "Chibi" Akira, it looked rather peculiar.

"She's cute!" Perm's double replied. "'Sides, look what happened to her!"

The others all nodded. "She didn't deserve that," Shinobu's replica — who, like Hensō's twin, also wore a long skirt; she also wore a mask over the lower part of her face — breathed out. "So what's the deal here, Taeko-san? Thanks to the loss of all the energy that's been keeping us alive since that projector literally created us, we may not have much time left. I can feel your magic sustaining us…"

"Taeko-sama!"

Taeko turned. "Ara! Just in time, ladies!"

Footfalls echoed from the hallway just as three women came inside. Much to Yō's surprise — though he was starting to suspect that the new landlady of the Hinata-sō had made calls ahead of time before she invited him to accompany her from the Toranoseishin Finances Tower — they had tricorders and dataPADDs in hand; a quick check with ki sight confirmed all three were Avalonians. They all were shaped as Caucasians in their early twenties; as the flags on their jacket sleeves indicated, one was spiritually Canadian while the other two were British. As they stopped to gape wide-eyed at the ghostly replicas of their former mistresses' living goddess figure and her classmates, Megane's replica came over to gaze at them. "Damn! Are they ALWAYS that beautiful, Taeko-san?!" he demanded as he turned to gape at the tokkaebi-turned-sorceress.

"Why, 'Toshi-kun!" Hensō's replica then teased. "Where's your loyalty to me?!"

"My loyalty to you is fully intact, Hensō-san," he replied as he gave her an amused look. "But you have to admit that Miss Heather and her sisters here are truly pleasing to the eye!"

"Would you like a strip-tease, Satoshi?" the woman with the shaggy neck-length brown hair and the dark brown eyes — she was one of the two Avalonian-Britons who just came in — teased as she gave him an inviting wink. "We are programmed as such!"

Laughter filled the room as Megane's double flustered in embarrassment. "Well, one has to complement 'Toshi's good taste!" Shinobu's double then mused as she tried not to snicker.

"You can say that again!" Hensō's twin chortled. "So why ask for their help, Taeko-san?" she then asked. "I know that the Avalonians grabbed everything they could get their hands on when they bugged out of the Phentax system for here after Darling and his sisters helped Ganzo-san free them all, but how could that help us?"

"Hensō-ya, it's so simple, it amazes me that you haven't thought of it!" Taeko teased. "What was the most important thing the Avalonians brought here?!"

Silence fell for a moment before Shinobu's replica gaped. "The bioroid factory?!"

"Ne!" the landlady of the Hinata-sō declared with a nod before she indicated the woman who had attracted the attention of Megane's twin. "Heather-ssi was the 'little sister,' so to speak, of one of a group of observers who — out of profound concern that your own doubles might be killed in their 'holy war' against Ataru-ya — decided to make sure they had a fighting chance to live and strike back…even if, by doing so, they would literally gut out the 'one true faith' by making your doubles become 'mere robots.'"

"Making us Avalonians, you mean?" Hensō's twin asked before nodding. "Did Hensō finally accept what Kyech-san revealed to her back on Uru? We haven't heard much news through the others' twins since Kuohu-san and Kyekkyek-san brought them back home."

"And we've been too busy keeping Hensō-chan here alive since her double hasn't been on Earth for the last couple of months," Chibi's double added.

"Well, you won't have to worry about that anymore, Akira-ya," Taeko said. "Heather-ssi, how soon can your friends get their new bodies here?"

Heather Mitchell — she worked as an English as a foreign language teacher at a local juku attended by many Tomobiki High students, the Kanshi Seminar; her background story made her a native of a suburb of Bristol — smiled. "We can beam them here as soon as I make the call to Julie, Lady Taeko," she vowed before she gazed apologetically at the five ghostly boys in the room. "I regret to say, however, that for all of you…"

"We got no choice but to become girls," Kakugari's twin stated. "It's cool, Miss Heather. We can do it. After all, part of Ataru had to become a girl when the Noukiites went in to fix the guy's mind up and get Negako-san out of there."

"Not to mention Hiromi-san," Perm's double added. "She was the freakin' _**emperor**_ back when she lived her first life in Rakuyō, for Buddha's sake! 'Sides, tōshi reincarnate cross-gender all the time! Ask Hideyuki!"

"Indeed," Mendō's replica affirmed with a nod. "If any part of Moroboshi can endure such a transformation, so can we." He chuckled as he added, "Besides, given our current state of being, it's much better than being DEAD!"

Everyone stared at him before roaring laughter echoed through the room…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) The person who Tamao mentions to Motoko in the shower scene above is **Tsukuyomi**, a character from _Mahō Sensei Negima_ who first appeared at the end of the manga story "Nodoka and the Secret Picture Diary" (manga episode #28). She is most likely a student of the Konoe Shinmei-ryū; she refers to **Sakurazaki Setsuna** by the term "sempai." She also has a love-hate relationship with the han'yō swordswoman; she clearly is attracted to Setsuna but also wishes to defeat her in battle to prove herself the better woman. In the latter chapters of the _Negima_ manga when she fought alongside **Fate Averruncus**, she made use of the Yōkatana Hinata. As I set the _Negima_ storyline where Akamatsu-sensei put it (around 2002-03), this would be after the first time Keitarō met T'aeja/Taeko but long before his "Nuna-ya" finally acquired human form.

As an aside, in the universe of this story, Tsukuyomi renamed herself in tribute to Yomigawa Tsukiko because of all the tales she heard of what the last Mahō-Shōgun of Japan did during the War of Liberation.

2) _Yatsura_ and _The Senior Year_ character and situation notes:

**Otako odai-Meinyak** first appeared in _The Senior Year_ story "What Price For Love?"

**Moroboshi Kinshō**'s behaviour while she was in high school was first noted in my lemon fanfic _The Galatea Syndrome_.

The Parent's Day visit to Tomobiki High School was depicted originally in the _Yatsura_ manga story "The Parents' Day From Hell" (manga episode #51). However, in the universe of this story, I actually based the events of that day on the anime variation of that story, "Terrifying Visiting Day" (anime episode #16-2).

The concept behind the _Book of Lum_ and how it actually came to be was first postulated by Mike Smith in his _TSY_ story "Final Cinba." This was the story that helped inspire the creation of the Niphentaxians' modern church in "What Price For Love?"

The term "**time of the month**" when referring to the Sagussan/Avalonian drive to seek out one's _marei'cha_ was first invented by Robert Geiger in his _TSY_ side story "Reunions, Remembrances and Returnings."

The **Rāmen Nekohanten** was first introduced in the manga story "Food Fight" (manga episode #106).

The kasa-obake and his raincloud wife — the names **Ashi** and **Netamu Ameko** are my invention — both appeared in the manga story "Raindrops Keep Fallin'…" (manga episode #36).

3) Translations: **Surei'cha** — Literally "the one with whom one has a child" and normally translated as "child-mate," this is the co-parent to any person's child; **Chapch'ae** — Literally "mixed vegetables," this is a dish that is made out of sweet potato noodles (_tangmyŏn_) stir-fried in sesame oil with mixed vegetables and beef, then seasoned with soy sauce and sugar; **De'ne'a** — The term _de'ne_ ("no intelligence") with the plural "_'a_" ending; **Shōsa** — Navy lieutenant commander/Army major/Air Force squadron leader (NATO rank code OF-3); **Pabo** — Fool, idiot; **Hyoyŏng** — Korean way of saying "Xiàolíing"; **Huhan** — Korean way of saying the characters going into the Mandarin phrase _Hòuhàn_, which is the proper term for the **Latter Hàn Dynasty** from 25-220 C.E. (which would be read "**Gokan**" in Japanese); **Rakuyō** — Japanese way of saying "Luòyáng."

4) **Morisaki Midori** and her bond-mate **Araki Nami** are characters that have been used from time to time in the various works of the manga artist and writer **Fūga**. Both of these women had prominent roles in the single-volume manga series _Yumemiru Shōjo_ ("The Girl Who Dreams"), which was first published in 2004. It should be noted that Fūga-sensei loves to have her characters appear again in other books; a complex relationship chart concerning people like Midori and Nami was published with _Sensei wo Mite Kudasai_ ("Please Look at Teacher") — also known as _Wain no Kachikan_ ("Sense of Value and Wine") — which was published in 2011.

5) The term **Kita-Teibō** as used in the street name "Kita-Teibō 5-dōri" mentioned above is a combination of two terms. _Kita_, as mentioned before, means "north." _Teibō_ is a name derived from the **Sexagenary Cycle**, a group of sixty terms originally invented in China to name years and days; this concept is also given the name "Stems and Branches." All sixty names in this particular cycle are composed of various combinations of the names of ten **heavenly stems** and twelve **earthly branches** that allow each year or day to be associated with various spiritual aspects of astrology and fortune telling. _Teibō_ is the term applied to the fourth year of the sexagenary cycle; I chose this term as part of the street names close to the Moroboshi home in following the tradition in _Yatsura_ of associating Ataru's family with the number "four." In effect, one way of interpreting the street name in English would be "5th North Fourth Street."

6) The term **Ponghwang** used by Taeko here is the Korean way of saying the Chinese characters **鳳凰**. The two characters — which individually mean "male phoenix" and "female phoenix" respectively — are, when combined together, usually translated as "phoenix" in English. In Mandarin, this term is always said as **fènghuáng**, in Cantonese as **fuhngwòhng** and in Japanese as **hō'ō**. In Chinese legend, the phoenix is often given female connotations and attributes, which makes it the spiritual mate of the dragon.

7) The Chinese characters that are normally read in English as "**Hong Kong**" — "**香港**," which literally means "harbour of incense" — are properly read in Mandarin as **Xiānggǎng**, in Cantonese as **Hōenggòng**, in Japanese as **Kōkō** and in Korean (as noted above) as **Hyanghang**. It is from the Cantonese reading of the two characters that the modern English phrase "Hong Kong" eventually arose. However, these days, the Japanese always read the characters as **Honkon** and the Koreans read them as **Hongk'ong** in following the English term. Since Taeko arose in the early Chosŏn era of Korean history, she would use the proper reading of the characters in her native tongue.

8) The term **His Imperial Majesty's Magical Commandery** is the formal phrase I invented as a way of addressing the regional **Magical Associations** that were introduced in _Negima_. A **commandery** (in Mandarin, _jùn_) in the old Chinese system of government was a part of the border region of a kingdom or dynastic empire. In the hierarchy of government, a commandery always ranked lower than a properly-established county as the population inside the commandery was always smaller than that of a county. However, the military forces based in a commandery — since it was in a border region — were quite larger as the military importance of a commandery always exceeded that of any county. I felt that the term "commandery" when applied to the administration of magicals in Japan made sense because — since the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy demanded TOTAL separation between magical and normal — those magicals living in Japan were in a spiritual "frontier" of sorts in comparison to their normal countrymen.

As an aside, the character that is normally translated as "commandery" in English — **郡** — would eventually be brought over to Japan and become the term for "county" (which is read _gun_ in Japanese).

9) **Heather Mitchell** and her friends were first introduced in the _Faking It - Great Guardians_ storyline at the Anime Add-venture. In that storyline, the name was the Earth alias of Shaskaar bedai-Iyake's co-worker **Toran dai-Murigsh**; in the universe of this story, Heather would be Toran's physical clone/younger sister figure as Shasta Ianson was Shaskaar's. The "Julie" mentioned here is **Julie Nike**, who is the physical clone/younger sister figure to **Juhzi dai-Nyhon**; he actually first appeared in _Lonely Souls_.


	17. Seta-sensei and Sarah Come to Hinata

The Hinata Creek Cottages, Tuesday 23 February, after dawn…

Moroboshi Ataru's nose twitched as a delightful smell drifted into his bedroom.

Grunting, the Terran tag champion moved to sit himself up from the futon he had been using, allowing the covers to fall away from him as he yawned deeply. Reaching over to his dataPADD, he tapped the screen to turn it on. Before he could type a request into the touch-screen device, the door to his bedroom then opened to reveal what would seem to others to be Redet Lum…who was now draped ONLY in a kitchen apron that covered her front! Shocked to see something he thought he would NEVER see in the wake of his divorcing Hensō two months ago — to say anything of his attending Lum's marriage to her wife on Okusei a month later! — Ataru then blinked as his ki sight clicked in to identify who and what this woman exactly was. "You're the film version of Hensō from that class project in September, right?" he asked as she moved to kneel beside him.

"Tcha! You can thank Negako-san and Taeko-san for giving me this body, Darling," she said as she offered him a cup of tea. "Shinobu's making breakfast right now."

He smiled. "So that's what I'm smelling," he said with a leer as he gazed on her, making her titter. "What about the guys' replicas? Are they okay?"

"Shūtarō's twin stayed with Negako-san in Tomobiki since she'll have to be introduced to her parents right away," she explained. "The Stormtroopers' twins stayed with Miss Heather and her friends. Negako-san contacted the MIBs to get them registered."

He nodded. "How are you?"

"Well, glad to be truly alive…even if that projector that created me made me something of a real bad girl," she confessed with a smirk. "Which is rather ironic. Given what Aneki was like when she first went to galactic middle school…!"

Both laughed just as footfalls echoed from the kitchenette. "Breakfast is served, Ataru-kun!" Shinobu's replica — like Hensō's twin, she was nude save for an apron — declared as she carried in a tray. On it was a well-cooked breakfast for him along with two milkshakes; they were meant for the two film-created replicas born of Urusian technology and the heavy magic and ki energy that ran rampant through Tomobiki. "Of course, if you want dessert…" she then purred as she gave him an inviting look.

He chuckled before reaching over to gently draw her into a one-armed embrace. They shared a deep and passionate kiss before Ataru did the same thing to the Oni-form Avalonian to his other side. "Much that part of me is tempted to give you girls a full sample of the Gojūni Sanji techniques, I'm still getting over breaking up with Kyech." As they gazed sympathetically at him, he smirked. "Maybe in the future…"

All three of them laughed before Shinobu's twin handed Hensō's one of the milkshakes. "Well, I suppose we can wait," the replica of Ataru's first girlfriend mused as she picked up her own milkshake. "Given what I just sensed from you — and what Taeko-san told us about what you went through after Kyech-san took you to Okusei — you do need time away from Tomobiki."

"And there are our new sisters up in space now," the twin to Ataru's would-be wife added as she gazed up. "Did you know there were so many of them, Darling?"

"Nope," he confessed. "We only got the full numbers after the fleet got into the system and we did a detailed scan of all the planets. By the time we did that, we were pretty much committed to getting the bioroid factory and the Avalonians away from that place; Nengmek'i-jiichan and his friends were already wrecking the System Destroyers that protected Phentax Two itself and we had to engage Ōgi's fleet to get to Phentax Twelve." He then smirked as he finished his tea before nodding thanks as Shinobu's twin handed him the plate of food. "Besides, it's not as bad as one might think. Once we convince the Seifukusu to let go those thirty planets close to us — and maybe grab Barsoom and the four Ipraedies worlds that aren't inhabited close to us as well after old man Schwartz dies — we can get people settled on those worlds and ease off on Earth's natural resources. That'll ultimately help guarantee safe trade routes for the people of the Federation, too."

The replica of a replica of a certain Oni warlord's daughter hummed. "True, you're right," she noted as took a slurp from the milkshake. "What would you want me to do, Darling?" she then asked as she gazed on him. "Wouldn't my going back to Tomobiki just make things even worse if Shūtarō and the Stormtroopers decide that I'M Aneki?!"

"Not if it's done right, of course," a strange voice then hailed from the hallway, making everyone turn as Hiromi peeked inside. "Be assured, by the time we make the proper arrangements, those poor fellows will probably find themselves wishing they had never HEARD of Hensō-san, let alone Lum-san!"

"You want us to beat them up, Hiromi-chan?" Shinobu's twin asked.

"No," the reborn emperor stated. "What I would desire both of you to do is to have breakfast, then we'll have to decide what sort of names you two — not to mention the boys' replicas — will have." She then smiled as Tariko peeked in the room. "As a matter of fact, Onē-san here has already come up with a couple viable suggestions."

"What's that?" Ataru asked.

"'Danu' for Hensō's twin and 'Saiko' for Shinobu's, using the characters for 'talented child,'" Tariko stated before she gazed on the just-named Redet Danu. "Given what happened to her 250 years ago that started the Mother of All Fight Scenes, it's kinda unfair for Danu's name to be seen as a taboo for something that wasn't her fault."

"What do you mean, Tariko?" Danu asked.

Hiromi sighed. "As Relota-san told us when we met her on Okusei…"

* * *

The Wafū Chabō Hinata, breakfast…

"«It's amazing, isn't it?»"

Hinomura Yō perked on hearing that comment in Cantonese. "«What is?»"

"«How such a young girl like Miss Shinobu could just _stand_ there and _**not**_ react on learning who I was, who Mother Tiger was and who you are,»" Wòhng Dākyùhn mused as they relaxed at one of the main floor tables, enjoying a light breakfast.

"«Don't be so surprised, Wòhng.»"

The other man perked. "«What do you mean?»"

"«Before the Avalonians were revealed, Shinobu had as her co-tenants both the heiress of the Aoyama branch of the God's Cry School and — even if she didn't know it at that time — the younger daughter of the late King of Molmol. There's also Master Tamago here as well,»" Yō calmly stated before sipping his tea. "«Now she has the Destroyer of Kyōto herself as her new landlady and that woman's future sister-in-law is the reborn Dahng Ngaahi. I'm sure Miss Motoko has often regaled Shinobu with tales of what her family has done ever since it founded their branch of the God's Cry School. Shinobu also loves Lady Taeko's brother very much. If Master Keitarō accepted his sister and fiancée without any problems, Shinobu would do it automatically. Which — if what I've heard and read about the poor man and what he's been through over the last year is even the least bit true — would make Miss Motoko and the other original residents yank their hair out at the fact that the 'baby' of the crowd won't listen to a word they say in hopes of keeping her 'protected' from such evil.»"

Dākyùhn laughed before they moved to finish their breakfast. Both had taken up the offer made by Urashima Taeko the previous night to sleep in one of the unoccupied cottages on the north side of Hinata Creek as they prepared themselves to carry out their current mission for the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì. Fú Fūnglīng had returned back to the _Hākhóilùhng_ so she could guide the former Royal Navy attack submarine into the Sagami Sea and keep it close to where her spiritual grandson was currently basing himself. That was a relief in the eyes of the man known throughout the underworld as "Crying Freeman"; he still hadn't broached the subject of a certain artist with his teacher/adopted grandmother figure…to say anything of the rather peculiar situation surrounding how he had come into contact with Hino Emu a month ago.

"«Are you still thinking about her?»"

Yō perked before he breathed out, "«How can I _**not**_ think of her?»"

Dākyùhn nodded…

* * *

_Hong Kong, on the slopes of Taaipèhng-sāan (Victoria Peak), Friday 22 January 2010, mid-afternoon… _

_"«S-spare me, Freeman! Spare me!»" the portly man in the traditional robes pleaded as he gazed on the angel of death that was facing him down, a Smith & Wesson Model 36 .36 calibre Chief Special in hand and aimed at his head. "«We're friends, aren't we?! What's mine is yours! Anything you want! Please…!»"_

KK-KRAK!

_A red hole appeared in the man's head over his nose. A stunned look crossed his face for a moment before his spirit took flight from his dying body and he collapsed onto his back, a trail of blood marking his passage. As Yō took a deep breath, he tensed for a moment as the thorough combat programming forced into his very soul years ago let go, allowing him to shed tears at this latest act of inhumanity he had been forced to commit for the betterment of the Society. Despite that, the logical side of his mind knew it was necessary. Seoih Sīng had been one of the administrators of one of the branch clans to the Society…but he had allowed his greed to get the better of him, which had come to harm those the Society had taken under its protection. _

_Such could NEVER be tolerated. _

_"OH…!" _

_Yō barely heard that gasp from near the viewing platform as he pulled out a bag full of high explosive powder from his robe pocket, allowing his pistol to fall into it so that it could be destroyed and eradicate evidence. Dropping that near Seoih's body, he moved towards the lookout as his eyes locked on the raven-haired, bespectacled woman ahead of him, standing close to a stand where a painting of the downtown core of the former British colony now was. As his mind quickly took in all the details of this woman — and a small part of him cursed himself on realizing that he would have to kill her to ensure she couldn't report what she clearly had witnessed to the police;_ Sloppy, Yō! You _**know**_ better than that! _he admonished himself — he sensed the explosive bag detonate, destroying his weapon. He then turned to gaze on his handiwork before taking a deep breath and looking back upon the witness. _

_She appeared to be about twenty or so, dressed in modern Western-style clothes — blouse and knee-length skirt — that covered a well-formed body. Her black hair went to mid-back and was brushed away from a nearly perfect face in the classic Oriental style. Her glasses had round-frame reading lenses, they set over eyes that were wide with shock…yet there was no fear in her expression. She seemed relaxed as she reached into her skirt pocket to pull out a handkerchief and hand it to him. Their hands briefly touched as he nodded his thanks for the handkerchief, her eyes then narrowing for a moment as she peered intently into his eyes before she calmed herself. _

_As he wiped his face down, he gazed intently at her. It then took all his discipline to fight down the total shock he felt on sensing the next emotion display on her face:_

**Relief!**

_Why…? _

_"«I see that you're an artist,»" he commented in Cantonese. _

_"Yes, I am." _

_Yō then perked on hearing that familiar accent…before surprise crossed his face on noting that she had answered his question. "You're Japanese?" _

_"Hai," she said with a pleasant nod. "My name is Hino Emu." _

_He blinked before nodding in understanding as he gave her the handkerchief. She took it as a light smile crossed her face. Fighting down his curiosity over the aura of simple_ acceptance _this woman was showing towards him, Yō took a breath as he turned to leave. He then stopped before he looked back. _

_No matter what, this had to be done. _

_"My name is Yō. The kanji means 'kiln,'" he then announced. _

_Emu blinked before nodding in understanding as she brought up the handkerchief to her lips. "Hai, Yō-san," she breathed out. "I'll be waiting for you," she said in a near-whisper before adding, "Tōkyō, Taitō Ward north of Ueno Park." _

_He stared in surprise at her before nodding as he turned to head off…_

* * *

"«She said THAT?!»"

Yō nodded. "«She all but gave me her home address,»" he confessed.

Dākyùhn blinked several times as he tried to wrap his head around the idea of some bystander who had witnessed his friend kill someone — who also understood what it meant when an assassin serving any of the Triads introduced himself by name to such a witness as a warning that s/he would be the next target — act as if what Yō had done that day in Hong Kong was no different than a simple trip to the corner grocery store! "«But why?!»" he demanded. "«If she knows what you have to do to her…»"

"«I don't know. I'll find out later today with Lady Taeko's help,»" Yō answered. "«I didn't take the chance to do a scan of her hei to see what was wrong. You know how it's like with me after I kill someone…and that gunshot could be heard all over the mountain; I couldn't guess when the police would arrive.»" As his friend nodded, the potter-turned-assassin took a deep breath. "«It's as if she WANTS me to end her life!»"

The other man hummed as he considered that for a moment before he perked. "«She could be dying of some incurable disease,»" he proposed. "«She would see you killing her as a release from whatever pain she might be experiencing or will experience.»"

"«Possibly…but there's one other possibility.»"

"«What's that?»"

"«She's an Avalonian.»"

Silence.

"«Did you ask Mother Eriko about her?»" Dākyùhn asked.

"«Just before I went to bed last night,»" Yō affirmed with a nod. "«She couldn't find Emu's name anywhere in the database for all Avalonians living in Japan.»" He sipped his tea. "«However, she also reported to me that there were six of the so-called 'Lost Posts' based here in Japan since the end of the Greater East Asia War. It's a very strong possibility that Emu — if she _**is**_ Avalonian — comes from one of them.»"

"«What are they?»"

"«Observation posts who totally lost contact with their superiors on Phentax Two,»" Yō replied. "«One of them was actually based on Hokkaidō not so far from Watari Island where the Heaven's Star School has its training hall. No doubt, the Immortal Master's blood — and the meson in the blood — created the perfect masking screen for the girls who lived there; the Elder Mother of that group is actually Ichijima Yōsuke's executive assistant at his ranch nearby.»" At Dākyùhn's nod — the leader of the Sugamo-kai had done several favours for the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì in the 1950s and 1960s that would help propel the latter group to a position of primacy among the Triads of China, so he was seen as a "Friend of the Dragons" and left alone — Yō added, "«The chances are there that Emu and her sisters may live near a meson deposit or some magical site that totally masked their existence from their former masters.»" As the other man grimly nodded on hearing the sneer in the assassin's voice as he spoke of the Niphentaxians — no doubt, Crying Freeman would gladly PAY for the chance to kill off the monsters who had done such horrible things to such beautiful and innocent women — Yō then breathed out, "«And if she is an Avalonian…»"

"«That would then interest the Earth Angel, not to mention her siblings.»"

"«So who's the other idiot you're here to kill?»"

Both men perked on hearing that question in accented Cantonese before they turned to see an amused-looking red-haired woman gaze on them from her place in the genkan. As Dākyùhn shuddered on seeing Dō Karumi, Yō smiled. "He's Shimasaki Shūdō, the current oyabun of the Hakushin-kai out of Ōsaka, Karumi-san," he replied. "That's the second-largest Yakuza group in Japan outside the Sannō-kai in Kōbe. We recently learned from the leader of the Chinese community in Kōbe that young ethnic children have been disappearing from time to time across all of Kansai. Several of our friends there witnessed kobun of the Hakushin-kai kidnap them right off the streets. They tried to trace down where they were taken, but they lost track of them every time. We don't know what for, but we have ideas…"

Hearing that, Karumi's eyes narrowed as ki began to radiate from her body. As Dākyùhn fought down the understandable urge to flee from the presence of this resurrected warrior who had seen first life during one of the bloodiest periods of China's long history, the Kyoshō alumnus took a deep breath as she moved to fight down the tidal waves of fury billowing from deep within her heart at the idea of some Yakuza moron kidnapping _**children**_. "Why wasn't this reported to the police?" she then coldly demanded.

"It was," Yō calmly replied. "But the Hakushin-kai leaned on the police to ignore such complaints. That's what made Càn Séunsàhn — the elder of the Chinese living in Nankin-machi, the Chinatown in Kōbe — contact us. He couldn't get the Sannō-kai involved; the Sannō-kai and the Hakushin-kai are at peace with each other and doing anything to upset that peace could backlash badly on those people living in Nankin-machi and elsewhere."

"So why get you specifically to drop this Shimasaki jerk?" she wondered.

"It sends a message to the Hakushin-kai: 'We know what you're doing. We're watching you. Stop it now and make restitution…or else,'" Yō coldly declared. "Not even the Sannō-kai would be stupid enough to support Shimasaki's people if we looked their way, especially with the Sagara-kai making a flanking manoeuvre to take them on from both Kantō and Kyūshū. Besides, if the Hakushin-kai become disorganized, they become fresh meat for anyone who might want to take over their territory."

Karumi blinked before nodding. "Finish your breakfast. Let's get Eriko-chan and her friends to contact their sisters in Kansai to see what they know."

The visitors from Hong Kong nodded…

* * *

Tomobiki, the Toranoseishin Finances Tower, that moment…

"Haruka, do calm yourself."

The sobbing matriarch of the Mendō Clan of Musashino shuddered as she continued to weep into her hands. Standing behind the sofa she currently occupied, the elderly valet — and human parrot — who was always at Mendō Haruka's side bowed to their host. "Please forgive the Mistress, Negako-sama. After Young Mistress Ryōko was born, the Mistress learned she could no longer bear children. Seeing Young Mistress Tachiko…"

Negako held up a finger in acknowledgement of what Hikutsu Ōmukai was implying before she gazed on the beautiful yet tomboyish woman — who looked very much like Mendō Shūtarō's own fraternal twin sister, though with slightly longer hair — standing beside her chair. "You have no objections to the name Tariko proposed for your new daughter, Haruka?"

A rapid shake of the head answered her as Haruka continued to sob. Seeing this, the newly-named Mendō Tachiko took a deep breath before she walked around the coffee table to comfort her mother. "Okā-sama, get a hold of yourself," she urged in a demure voice…which was a marked contrast to what Mendō's film camera-created replica sounded like to Urashima Taeko the previous evening before Heather Mitchell beamed in his replacement body to allow him to truly live even if he had to endure gender reassignment. Fortunately, the other Avalonians in Heather's specific group — their leader was the Elder Mother of all the seven hundred bioroids who lived in and around the "holy city," Shasta Ianson — had anticipated that sort of problem, so they ensured that Tachiko's new body was programmed ahead of time to allow the male spirit that was soon to be inserted into it to better adjust to being a woman full-time. "You don't want people to think that you're not in control over the Clan, do you?"

Haruka jolted on hearing that before she took a deep breath. As Ōmukai gave Tachiko a grateful look, the older woman then breathed out. "I am sorry about that, Negako-sama," she then said in her normal whisper-quiet voice. Negako knew that Haruka suffered from several phobias, including the fear of speaking out loud to anyone; that was the reason Ōmukai was always at her side to parrot everything she said to strangers. "Much that I always believed that modern medical science would never give me another chance to give my husband more children, the fact that those poor aliens who were enslaved by those monsters who violated my son's privacy like they did were able to do _this_…!" She waved to Tachiko in emphasis.

"Understandable," Negako stated. "James Edwards and Kevin Brown of the Special Committee on Alien Activities will be here to assist Tachiko in being properly registered as a citizen of Japan. In essence, she will be treated in the same manner as any of the girls who worked for the people that saw her body — and the bodies prepared to house the spirits of Hensō, Shinobu, Satoshi, Akira, Kōsuke and Hiroyuki — prepared two months ago when the leadership on Phentax Two began to view Ataru as the 'Great Evil' and not merely a 'sinful doubter.'"

"Why is that anyway, Negako-sama?" Ōmukai then asked. "Despite all things your brother did while Hensō-sama was here — which was more than clearly explained when Nengmek'i-sama and K'ekhech-sama revealed your presence and Hiromi-sama's presence inside his mind — over the latter half of last year, Ataru-sama never did anything that would be seen as truly 'evil!' How could these people misread him like that?"

"Because Ataru's resistance to Hensō made her seem fallible in the eyes of her 'most faithful,' Ōmukai," the ninjutsu grandmaster replied with an amused smirk. "That could not be tolerated by Ōgi and his supporters. If the 'living goddess' was NOT capable of forcing Ataru to bend to her will, it would ultimately mean that Ōgi made a mistake ten years ago after Lum rescued him from the Terrible Swamps on Uru close to her family home. If that became common knowledge, those who turned to the Church of Lum for spiritual guidance would go elsewhere. In a religious dictatorship, that cannot be tolerated."

"That's horrible…!" Tachiko hissed out.

"Indeed it is. Given the Niphentaxians' inability to conceive of their own social structures, that the 'church system' that has dominated their lives for so long developed as it did does not surprise me. It is a pity that the worldwide leadership in power at the time the bioroid factory was discovered by Ganzo could never allow themselves to see the incredible gift the Fates handed them. Combining the capacity to work hard that the Niphentaxians possessed as a birthright to the level of creativity and originality that the Avalonians could have brought into such an alliance and the Union of Phentax Two would have become a galactic superpower that far outstripped the Vosian Confederation in every way possible." Negako then shook her head. "But they chose instead to enslave them. That ultimately was their loss."

"A pity," Haruka whispered. "Negako-sama, what does Hiromi-san have in mind now?"

"Concerning what?"

"The _Yamato_ and her sisterships?"

Negako breathed out. "Hiromi is awaiting whatever final decision the leaders of those nations who have been honoured by the names applied to the Type One starships — as Tsukihana and Ayami have designated them as a group — will make concerning how they will be administered. Will they permit the creation of a pan-national force with its own unique service requirements? Will they prefer to have the ships administered by their indigenous armed forces? Which of the specific environmental services will control these ships? After all, the _Timūr Gurkānī_, the _Prithvi Narayan_, the _Mirwais Neeka_, the _Rās Dāshen_ and the _Kioga_ — representing Uzbekistan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Uganda respectively, all of whom are landlocked nations — will, according to some proposals, have to be commissioned into the air forces of those nations since they have never had need to create their own naval services. Atop that, there are the issues of local conflicts and internal civil strife that might affect the performance of the crews of certain vessels. To say anything of the rather unique situations surrounding the question concerning which nation will commission the _Zhèng Hé_ and the _Paekbŏm_."

"China and Taiwan…and the two Koreas," Tachiko noted. "The two sides in both situations would have equal moral claims to those ships. Zhèng Hé is seen as a national hero among all Chinese — both on the mainland and Taiwan — for his explorations during the Fifteenth Century. Kim Ku was the man who could have kept Korea united in the face of the Cold War and the growing friction between America and Russia that was pulling his country apart at the time, which makes him a hero to the peoples on both sides of the Demilitarized Zone."

"So all we can do now is sit back and wait," Haruka quietly noted.

"Indeed we must…ah!"

Noting Negako perking, the visitors all blinked before they turned as a side door opened to reveal Fusegu Jinseiko, who was escorting two men who reminded Haruka, her new daughter and her valet of the Kuromegane — save for the fact that both were Americans; one was a white man in his fifties with grey-shot brown hair while the other was an African-American man in his thirties with short-cut curly black hair — and how they normally dressed, right to the RayBan sunglasses. "Negako-sama, Agent Kay and Agent Jay of the Men In Black," the leader of the Kuromoroboshi declared as she bowed deeply to Negako.

Negako nodded. "You may go, Jinseiko." As Jinseiko left, she gazed on the elder of the two members of the SCAA. "Have the issues with Tokiko, Takako, Nijiko and Mitsuko been properly resolved, Kevin?" she asked as she waved the visitors to a nearby couch.

"Easy as pie compared to some of the other things we've had to deal with," Kay stated with a smile as Jay pulled out some equipment from his briefcase. "Will we have to go down to where Miyake Saiko is right now or will she come up here?"

"Jinseiko's friends have instructions to bring Saiko here when she is finished with breakfast and Shinobu's parents are informed of what had to be done to give them a second daughter," Negako stated. "Danu can be dealt with at our leisure since Hiromi will desire her to take charge of the former Urusian observation post on Ceres."

That made the representatives from the Mendō Clan gape. "_**WHAT OBSERVATION POST?!**_" Tachiko demanded. "Negako-sama, if Lum-san's people find out…!"

"Ataru and Tariko — with some assistance from the Noukiites — dealt with that when the bioroid factory arrived in the system on Thursday, Tachiko," Negako calmly stated as she crossed her arms. "Your brother and his peers throughout Tomobiki will learn of what exactly happened this evening on the news."

The visitors from the Mendō estate all shivered on hearing that…

* * *

The Hinata Creek Cottages, Yamamoto Eriko's cabin, a half-hour later…

"So you have no idea what Shimasaki's people are doing?"

"None at all, Eriko," the Elder Mother of the Avalonians of the red light district of Tobita located in Ōsaka's Nishinari Ward — and the effective Elder Mother of the eight hundred bioroids now living in that particular prefecture — stated from her private bedroom. Koizumi Risa originally had worked as an escort for one of the many brothels in Tobita before the Liberation; she was currently moving to organize a resettlement assistance group to work hand-in-hand with the prefecture government once the Avalonians still in space started coming down later today. "Even though many of the brothels here in Ōsaka work for the Hakushin-kai, a lot of the people who are actually part of that group…" She sighed. "Well, they've always felt 'wrong' to us."

"What do you mean by 'wrong,' Risa-san?" Yō asked. He and Dākyùhn were standing behind the elder mother of the Hinata Avalonians in the living room of the cabin she now shared with Kudō Kana; Karumi had gone off to be with her fiancé. "Did they suspect who and what you were all along?"

The brown-eyed redhead shook her head. "No, they didn't. At least we think they didn't, Yō-san," she answered. "As was just proven when we learned about our sisters in Nemuro, there were people who were fully aware of our presence here on Earth."

"They could have found a way to avoid your empathy," Dākyùhn stated.

"Hai. Atop that, they always struck us as very disciplined in comparison to other Yakuza we've met," Risa stated. "Acting like cold fishes whenever they came to the brothels and interacted with us and our co-workers. It was really odd. We couldn't understand what they were really doing — even with direct telepathic probing — but they always were remote and impersonal, even to those people they were once closely acquainted with."

"Have you taken a tricorder to any of them?" Eriko asked.

"We've been too busy getting our new quarters and offices set up to worry about that, Eriko," Risa answered. "Ever since the Imperial Marines came to town Wednesday night, the kobun of the Hakushin-kai have pretty much disappeared from the streets." She gazed on Yō. "If you want our help in taking down Shimasaki-san, Yō-san, give us at least a couple days to get some monitoring equipment up so we can scan around all their bases. You don't want to risk getting into something you won't be able to deal with."

That offer surprised Yō. "Why?"

"Shimasaki-san is of the same generation as Ogata Eizō, the oyabun of the Sannō-kai. Both wouldn't approve of your friend's overall plans for the Yakuza of Japan." As Yō smiled on hearing that oblique reference to Hōjō Akira, Risa added, "That really strikes me as odd since the Sannō-kai originally started out as a protective force for the dockyard workers of Kōbe during the post-World War Two reconstruction of the country…and the Hakushin-kai was a direct outgrowth of the Sugamo-kai first founded by Ichijima-sama in the 1950s as a way of supporting political reforms after the war. Wouldn't you'd like to see your group gain even greater legitimacy in the eyes of the people of China as you move to establish your own version of the Temple?"

The visitors from Hong Kong smiled on hearing that. Indeed, the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì had always seen their overall goal as finding a way to reclaim their spiritual roots as servants of the legendary Buddhist temple in modern-day Hénán Province whose fame had grown far and wide thanks to intensive Western interest in what the Japanese called "Zen." Actually reclaiming the physical Temple itself would cause all sorts of complications; it had been rebuilt in the Eighteenth Century under the patronage of the Qīng Dynasty and was pretty much intact today despite more recent acts of arson and vandalism during the warlord era of the 1920s and the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. Thanks very much to the different political climates that had ruled over China since the fall of Míng in 1644, those who had succeeded the original 108 Dragons as stewards of the Temple didn't owe any allegiance to the successors of the monks saved by Hosan Hirosuke when Lǐ Zìchéng came to force them to submit to his short-lived Shùn Dynasty. Given that the modern Baakbaatlùhng-kuì engaged in many illegal practices despite its passionate support of the Chinese diaspora worldwide, the custodians of the Temple would probably only wish to deal with people like Wòhng Dākyùhn and Hinomura Yō with a ten-metre cattle prod.

"Well, if necessary, all we would have to do is erect a new Temple on another world," Yō then stated as he gave Risa a polite nod of thanks.

"A good point," the Elder Mother of Tobita affirmed with a grin…

* * *

Near the Hinata-sō…

"Eh?! Kidnapping children?!"

"Hai," Karumi breathed out as she followed the Urashima siblings down the stairs towards the Shōgimon and the Wafū Chabō Hinata. "All ethnic Chinese, which really wouldn't raise a blip with the local police. Atop that, the boss of the Hakushin-kai is getting his people to lean down on the cops to ignore any requests to investigate this by relatives." She spat out, "Bastards!"

"So by Yō-san killing the oyabun…" Keitarō breathed out.

"It makes it really clear to the under-bosses that whatever the fuck they're doing better stop right away…or else there'll be a gang war," his fiancée finished.

He nodded…before perking on sensing two people approaching from behind him. "Ohayō, Shinobu-chan! Leida-chan!" he called out as Maehara Shinobu and Leida Gan ran down the stairs to catch up to them. "Ready for your first day of school, Leida-chan?"

"Hai!" Kaolla Su's best friend affirmed with a determined nod. She was dressed in the winter seifuku for Hinata Middle School, a white-highlighted dark blue affair. She wore wool thigh-highs as it was still late winter here in Japan, not to mention a dark green tie with the central sign of the flag of the Kingdom of Molmol on it; as the island nation saw itself as the spiritual descendant of the Mughal Empire, it had adopted that country's golden lion-eclipsing-the-rising sun insignia as its own. "The entrance examination was easy for me; the teachers were all impressed by the final score. It reminded them of how much Kaolla scored when she did her entrance test two years ago before she entered Grade Seven." As the others nodded — Molmol followed the American style of marking specific school years, so they knew Leida spoke of the freshman year in middle school — she then shook her head. "I only just wish someone here had caught onto her problems before she started acting like a stupid 'gaijin barbarian' and all that. Might save her some trouble when she comes back to school on Thursday after she gets her body-swap done."

"Leida-chan, why is it she always said she was from the 'deserts of Tōkyō?'" Shinobu asked, trying to keep her voice friendly despite the anger she STILL felt at having her memories violated like they were when the adult version of Kaolla moved to literally give her an older sister figure in Maehara Makiko.

Leida hummed as they passed under the archway of Shōgimon. "I wonder if she was confusing 'Tōkyō' with Tōḍēi," she mused as they stepped onto the Hinata-dōri, heading to the Hinatasō-eki to board the tram for downtown.

Keitarō and Karumi perked. "You mean Tōdai? Tōkyō University?" the latter asked.

The young Molmolite giggled. "No, Onē-chan, _**Tōḍēi**_!" she emphasized, exaggerating the syllables to put a slight "h" sound behind the "d" and keeping both the "o" and "e" clipped as it would be pronounced in the Kiribati-influenced Urdu that had been the standard language on Molmol until English came into widespread vogue on the island during the late 1940s. "That was the capital of the Turtle Kingdom of Pararontas that existed on Molmol and nearby islands like Pararakelse centuries before the birth of the Prophet Jesus. It's at the north end of the Windy Desert just west of Molmol City. But it's either very magical or highly influenced by some form of meson; you can only see the ruins of Tōḍēi during the times of the Crimson Moon."

"'Turtle Kingdom?!'" Shinobu asked.

"Myuu!"

Everyone perked as they looked up…before the youngest of the Hinata-sō's original tenants laughed as a certain hot springs turtle hatchling landed on her forehead. "Tamago-chan!" Shinobu whined. "I can't take you to school! I…eh?!"

Her eyes fluttered as her mind linked into Tamago's for a moment. She then gasped just as a distant bell rang from the direction of Ōgusu-jinja. "Eh?! Really?! They actually worshipped your ancestors as living gods?!" she asked.

"Myuu!" Tamago trilled out. "Myuu, myuu, myuu! Myuu, myuuuuuuu! Myuu!"

A nod twitched the young girl's head. "Yeah, that would be pretty scary, wouldn't it?"

"What's the little fella saying?" Karumi asked.

"Tamago-chan said that the hot springs turtles that lived on Molmol and Pararakelse back then decided to migrate elsewhere when the people who worshipped them began offering living _**sacrifices**_ at the temples in Tōḍēi and all the other major cities, Sempai," Shinobu said as a streetcar approached from Higashimikka-eki. "It really sickened them, especially since they were — and still are — herbivorous!"

"Damn…!" Keitarō breathed out…

_SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE…!_

Everyone gasped on hearing that loud squeal of tires from behind them, then spun around to see a red fifth generation Subaru Sambar Dias Classic skidding on the street as the driver — who just spotted the safety barriers put in by the construction workers moving to tear up the street beyond Hinatasō-eki — tried not to careen into the deep ditch dug into the pavement. Just near the point where the front end was about to drop right into said ditch, the driver spun the wheel hard left, which allowed the Sambar to skid around to present its right broadside to the safety barriers. It would have been enough…hadn't the side boarding door suddenly slid back. To the total horror of the people inside the station and the construction crews working nearby, a young blonde girl in a jean jumper and T-shirt with a baseball cap over her head was pitched out by the centrifugal force of the van swinging around. As she screamed out, Keitarō lunged over the safety rail and made a dive. "_**HANG ON!**_"

People watched in wide-eyed disbelief as he twisted himself in mid-air to allow her to fall onto his lower chest. He snared her and pulled her protectively close to him as Taeko reached out with her powers to prevent him from crashing back-first onto the edge of the ditch the poor girl had just about fallen into and breaking his spine. As the motion stopped, people seeing this breathed out as Karumi hopped over the fence, then ran over to help pull her fiancé to safety. By then, the girl that Keitarō had helped save was sobbing with fright as she held onto him tight. "Hey! Hey! Hey!" he soothed as he gazed down at her while Taeko moved to put him onto the ground away from the van. "It's alright! You're okay! You're okay, Sarah-chan!"

"'Sarah-chan?!'"

He turned as Haruka ran up, dodging around the van. On hearing that familiar voice, the girl looked over…and then she squealed. "_**AUNTIE HARUKA!**_"

Grinning, Keitarō handed Sarah MacDougall over to his cousin as Taeko, Shinobu and Leida came over to join them, the new landlady waving off the streetcar as police sirens echoed through the air. "Hey, Squirt!" Haruka cooed as she held her best female friend's daughter close to her. "What are you doing here?!"

Sarah sniffed. "Papa was coming over to ask you to babysit me while he went off to find some people to help out at the university," she said in very good Japanese as she gave Haruka an annoyed look. "Of course, his driving's as dorky as usual and he didn't see the damned construction signs when he came up…!"

Haruka blinked before she moaned. "Would you hold her for a moment, Keitarō?" she asked as she handed the young Californian to her cousin. "I need to yell at someone."

"Would you like me to curse Noriyasu-ssi, Haruka-ya?" Taeko then offered.

"When I'm done with him, Taeko-san!" Haruka grumbled. "_**HEY! SETA!**_"

As she flung open the passenger-side door of the Sambar so she could physically yank out the stunned and bleeding driver — whom Keitarō was quick to recognize as the strange man who appeared on the hill south of the Hinata-sō the day after he came back from his vacation trip down in Okinawa — so she could scream at point-blank range into his ear, the former manager of the Hinata-sō could only sigh. "I take it this is kind of normal with your dad, eh?" he asked.

Sarah nodded as she looked at him. "Yeah! Hey, you know Auntie Haruka?!"

"She's my cousin on my dad's side of the family," he answered. "I'm Urashima Keitarō. This is my fiancée, Dō Karumi," he then waved to Karumi.

Sarah looked…and then her sea blue eyes went as wide as saucers on seeing the magatama hanging off Karumi's left ear. "Holy…!" she breathed out in awe. "You're one of those super-cool fighters that live in these parts!" She then snapped her fingers a couple of times as she tried to recall something. "Oh, darn…what're they called…?"

"Tōshi," Karumi provided with a grin.

Rapid nods from the young Californian as a police car came to a stop nearby. As Shinobu — with Tamago still on her head — and Leida headed over to explain things to the police officers emerging from the vehicle, Sarah gave the older woman a curious look. "So who were you back then?"

"Dèng Ài of Cáo Wèi. 'Tōgai Shisai' as I'd be called here in Japan."

"Oh!" the younger girl trilled. "The guy who knocked down Shǔ for Wèi, huh?!"

"You know quite a bit, don't you?" Keitarō mused.

Sarah blushed. "I have archaeologists for a mom and an adopted dad!" she said as she gave him an _**Are you stupid?!**_ look. "What do you think?!"

He sighed. "Hai! Right…ULMMPTH!"

That was thanks to the warm thank you kiss that the young girl now in his arms just gave him. As Karumi and Taeko giggled on seeing Keitarō sputter in embarrassment, Sarah gave him a curious look. "You sure you okay?" she asked. "You didn't get hurt, did you?!"

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" he assured her. "Pays to have a tokkaebi for a sister here," he said as he waved to Taeko. "This is the landlady of the Hinata-sō, Urashima Taeko."

Sarah looked…and then she paled as she recalled the word "tokkaebi." "You're the _**Meanie of Meanies**_!" she cried out before she leapt out of Keitarō's arms into Karumi's. "Save me, lady! The Meanie of Meanies is going to curse me! Get me away from her! I heard what she did…!"

_Sniff! Sniff!_

A big sweat drop appeared in Sarah's hair. "She's crying?" she eeped.

Karumi nodded. "Yeah, kid. She's crying."

The young Californian looked to see Taeko's grey eyes now swimming in tears. As she hopped over Keitarō — moving quite dexterously for a girl of only eight! — to land in the tokkaebi-turned-sorceress' arms to calm her down, Taeko's brother and future sister-in-law shared a look. «Sensed it?» Keitarō telepathically asked.

«Yeah! Kid's hurting 'cause of her parents and her adopted dad's about to abandon her here because of what Tamago-chan just told Shinobu-chan about,» Karumi answered.

«Can they do body-swaps at her age?»

She shrugged. «Yeah, I think so. No harm in asking.»

* * *

Inside the Wafū Chabō, an hour later…

"I'm really sorry about this!" Seta Noriyasu stated as he bowed his head.

Keitarō bowed his head in acknowledgement. "Well, soon as Nuna-ya magically repairs all the damaged stuff inside those boxes in the back of your van, you'll be able to get them over to Tōdai as quick as you can, Seta-hakase," he stated. "Though I'd really be careful about these parts from now on. The city's closing down the Hinata-dōri from beside the tea shop here around the Mikka Hotel property to Minamimikka-eki so that they can unite it with the Hinata-sō property to allow more Avalonians to come down and live there, plus interact with their sisters who are already here."

The archaeology professor — who had just been taken on as full-time staff at Tōkyō University — nodded. "So the whole Hinata-sō is no longer just all-girls, right?"

"Well, the main building — once it's fixed up — will pretty much stay all-girls," the would-be Tōdai aspirant answered before he nodded as a smiling Terazawa Masako came over to place cups of tea before them. The police had finished up minutes before; they had taken Shinobu and Leida to school so that the staff there could be told as to what happened and why the two girls were so late for classes. "We put in new cottages on the site of the Forbidden Annex — once Negako-san got rid of the magic of the place with the soulsword, of course — and all along Hinata Creek from just above the cataract to the east end of the property by Ōgusu-jinja. If you're looking for a permanent place to stay — even if this is far from Tōdai — we have spare cabins there for you and Sarah-chan."

"I might consider it," Noriyasu stated. "This must be really overwhelming for you, Keitarō-kun. The Destroyer of Kyōto as your adopted sister, the reborn Tōgai Shisai as your fiancée, not to mention the Earth Angel herself and her siblings, one of whom is a tōshi herself…" He shook his head. "If the people at Tōdai weren't so adamant that I'd finish my work concerning the Turtle Kingdom, I'd love to spend time down here interviewing all your new friends. Given that the Fourth Sagussan Republic was said to be over _**eighty millennia old**_ when it destroyed itself in the Clone Rights War…"

"You know about Nuna-ya and Negako-san?"

A chuckle answered him. "I work often with a British witch named Corrine McMaster whenever I go over to Pararakelse — that's an island close to Molmol — to look over the ruins," Noriyasu explained. "She's a graduate of one of the two main magic schools in Britain; I forget what it's called. The Yanks aren't so uptight on upholding that international magical secrecy statute as the Europeans are. Things happened and I wound up being briefed on all the magical enclaves by the liaison officer for the American Department of Magic to the governor of Pararakelse. Ex-FBI man named John Fitzpatrick; he's one of Corrine's best friends." As Keitarō nodded, the older man chuckled. "One time about two years ago, Sarah got into Corrine's old magical history textbooks and read about the true story behind the Great Fire of 1603. That's why she calls Taeko-sama the 'Meanie of Meanies.' One of Corrine's friends from Chicago scared her to sleep a few times with stories about what T'aeja-sama would do if she misbehaved and tried to go out in the dig areas; the Desert of Death on Pararakelse is called that for a reason, after all." As Keitarō winced, Noriyasu sighed. "That's kinda why I came here in the first place. Much that I'd prefer to dedicate my time in raising Sarah — I promised her mother I'd do that — as a father should, being the on-campus junior archaeological professor means frequent field trips to places eight year-old girls shouldn't be." He winked. "Sarah doesn't like it…"

"Which is why I noticed some of those artifacts from Pararontas were broken by her foot and not the jostling in their boxes because of your driving, Noriyasu-ssi."

He jerked before moaning as Taeko walked over to sit beside her brother. "I rather expected that," the professor breathed out. "Much that I don't want to impose, Taeko-sama, I hope you repaired them as well. They are quite precious."

"Fortunately, Tamago-ya insisted on their repair," Taeko stated as a certain hot springs turtle flew in to land on her head. As Noriyasu gaped on seeing that, the tokkaebi-turned-sorceress added, "Much that members of his race do have some bad memories of the latter years of Pararontas — after all, those people who had worshipped Tamago-ya's ancestors as living avatars of Hwan'in-nim shouldn't have burned _live animals_ on open fires before their temples at Tōḍēi and elsewhere as a sacrifice to a species of _**herbivores**_! — before the fall of Gojosŏn and the eventual rise of Koguryŏ, Paekche and Shilla, those particular artifacts do represent a more pleasant era and should be preserved as best as possible." She smiled. "Besides, Sarah-ya is still in grief over the death of her parents and doesn't really understand why the man who became her adopted father — even if such is not legal at this time — has to spend so much time away from her. While having Haruka-ya back in her life will help, I hope those fellows at Tōkyō University won't send you out too much."

"I'll be probably looking at long field trips for the next few years, Taeko-sama," Noriyasu warned. "I'm the new kid on the block. Until I show to the esteemed elders in charge of things that I know my stuff, I have to go out there and be like Indiana Jones-hakase every chance I get. And that's hard!"

"Makes me wonder if I should aim elsewhere other than Tōdai," Keitarō noted.

That made the older man perk. "You're trying to get into Tōdai?"

"Three-time rōnin," the former landlord reported as he held up his hand.

Laughter escaped the professor. "I was the same way, Keitarō-kun. It's nothing to be ashamed about." As Keitarō gaped on hearing that, Noriyasu added, "By continuing to try and not giving up, you're showing more grit and determination than those super-smart people who breeze through the Centre Test and the entrance examination on their first try, then act like lazy bums when they get to the lecture halls. They're the ones who normally get the dead-end jobs in the major companies and be the drones of life. People like you and me KNOW what it means to work hard to get to whatever place in life we want to be, Keitarō-kun. They don't."

"Maybe you should tell that to a former student of yours, Noriyasu-ssi."

He looked at Taeko. "Who?"

"Narusegawa Naru," the new landlady stated. "She was a second year at Hinata High School here in town a year ago when you tutored her as well as a few other people — including three of the Avalonians: Ogasawara Iori, Kazama Narumi and Endō Chika; they all are Naru-ya's classmates — before you headed to Pararakelse."

He hummed. "Naru…oh, yeah! I remember her!" He winked. "She scared me at times, especially with the way she looked at me when I was teaching her!"

That made both Urashima siblings gape. "She _**scared**_ you?!" they exclaimed…

* * *

Space Factory #319, that moment…

"**_AH-CHOO!_**"

Running footsteps heralded the arrival of Shiina Kaoru. "Naru! Are you alright?!" the healer demanded as she walked over to gaze intently at her patient.

A moan answered her. "Someone's talking about me, Sensei."

The other woman breathed out. "That was some sneeze," she admitted as she scanned the wounded Tōdai aspirant with a tricorder. "Made me worry the atmospheric cleansing systems here were starting break down and you caught something."

Narusegawa Naru chuckled in embarrassment…

* * *

The Wafū Chabō Hinata…

"Hai, it's true," Noriyasu admitted before he shrugged. "Hey, I know how good looking I am. Ask Haruka-chan or Eriko-san! But when it's an…URRRK!"

That was thanks to Haruka, who had appeared out of NOWHERE to snare her old boyfriend by his tie and yank him face-to-face. "_**WHAT THE HELL'S THIS ABOUT YOU FLIRTING AROUND WITH ERIKO-CHAN?! WASN'T IT BAD ENOUGH THAT YOU HAD BOTH JULIA AND ME AFTER YOU?!**_"

He chuckled. "Haruka, you didn't listen to me. I called her 'Eriko-san,' not 'Eriko' without honorific or 'Eriko-chan.' Doesn't that tell you something?"

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

Haruka sighed as she helped him back into her chair. "Yeah, sorry about that," she apologized as she sat down beside him. "It's just…"

He patted her hand. "We were both hurting because of Julia, Haruka. It's alright."

She blinked before nodding as she pulled out a cigarette. Before Noriyasu could light it, Taeko made a motion with her hand to get it going. "Julia-ssi must have been quite young to give birth to a child Sarah-ya's age. What happened to her?" the new landlady asked.

"She got pregnant just out of high school," Haruka admitted. "Her boyfriend at the time had joined the Marine Corps. That's the reason Sarah-chan has her mother's name." She took a deep inhale of the soothing cigarette fumes. "Fortunately, Julia's dad was rich enough to support her going to UCLA and help her raise Sarah-chan. We met her when we were invited to a dig on Pararakelse in my senior year at Tōdai." She then snickered. "Remember Sage-sensei?"

"Oh, gods! Don't remind me!" her old boyfriend groaned out.

Both of them shared a laugh. Haruka then breathed out, "Of course, Mister 'He-Man of the Turtle Kingdom Ruins' here reminded Julia a little too much of her old boyfriend, so she started crushing on him real bad!" She thumbed Noriyasu in emphasis. "We both ended up fighting over him — even did each other once to make him choose between us — but eventually…!" She sighed.

"Did Sarah-chan's dad ever find out about her?" Keitarō asked.

"Hai, he eventually did," Noriyasu affirmed. "He came back to Sacramento after he graduated from Force Reconnaissance training after Julia graduated from UCLA." He chuckled. "He freaked out on finding out he was a father, but he manned up and proposed to her right then and there. We were at the wedding at Camp Pendleton." He indicated himself, then Haruka. "Patrick was a damned good man. They were in the midst of getting Sarah-chan's family name changed to his when they were killed in an accident on the I-5 in late 2006."

"That's terrible," Taeko breathed out.

"That's WRONG!"

Everyone perked before turning to gaze on a shuddering Sarah, who had stormed over when she heard the older people speak of her late parents. "Sarah," Noriyasu breathed out. "It was a simple automobile accident! There was nothing sinister about…!"

"NO!" Sarah snapped as her eyes instantly teared. "Dad and Mom were MURDERED, Papa! Ask Mister Yō!" She waved to the entrance of the genkan.

"It's true."

Heads snapped around to allow the adults to stare at Hinomura Yō, who had a sad look on his face as he gazed on the shuddering Sarah. As both Masako and her bond-mate — who had been playing with the young Californian as her adopted father talked to Keitarō and his sister — moved to comfort the child, Taeko sighed. "Then pray tell me, Dragon Sun, who actually deprived Sarah-ya of her parents?" she coldly demanded.

"I, too, would desire to learn this story, Master Yō," a voice added from behind Yō.

He turned to gaze on a narrow-eyed Moroboshi Hiromi before he took a deep breath. "In your grandmother's writings, Hiromi-san, did you learn of K.O.?"

She sighed, her voice dripping with scorn as she replied, "The Kidnappers Organization. A pathetic little group of mercenaries who specialize in what their name implies for large ransoms. Formed mostly by former members of the American Army's Special Forces two decades ago, most of whom were veterans of places such as Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, the first Gulf War, the former Yugoslavia and all the other delightful little hotspots our friends in Washington love to send their warriors to for whatever strikes their fancy. Currently led by a fellow named Larry Park, a veteran of Vietnam. Their ultimate goal is to create a 'country of warriors' somewhere on the planet; their taking people hostages for ransom is supposed to help pay for such land. Why?"

"Julia MacDougall's father was a Friend of the Dragons," Yō answered. "He fought alongside Mister Park in Vietnam as part of the 5th Special Forces Group, but his sympathies eventually fell with the Vietnamese since they were ultimately fighting to reunite their homeland after the Cold War ripped it apart." He walked over to sit on the edge of the genkan beside Sarah, smiling as she moved to hug him from behind. "Since the Dragons were moving to set up opium-growing areas throughout Indochina at the time, John MacDougall — under the cover of his privately going back there to locate lost comrades — directed our people to the areas with the best soil. He didn't care for drugs, but he saw that we were improving the lives of the people there — as we do elsewhere — with our operations. Eventually, he — and, by extension, his family — earned the favour of Father Dragon and the Ten Planets for his help in expanding our earnings nearly twenty-fold during the late 1970s and 1980s.

"When he found out about John did, Mister Park — this was when he still saw himself as fully loyal to his nation — was quite enraged," the potter-turned-assassin added. "He viewed John's actions as a betrayal of the sacrifice his friends made fighting for freedom in Southeast Asia. However, we do not forget our friends, so when he tried to have John tarred in the court of public opinion for his 'treason,' our people went in and made it quite clear that John was under our protection. Mister Park barely escaped with his life." Yō then chuckled. "Actually, Hiromi-san, you might find this rather ironic given what happened in your first life: It was during that fight that Mister Park was wounded and effectively rendered incapable of fathering children."

Hiromi sighed. "While that was accepted practice all those years and centuries ago, I would not care for it to be practised on anyone now."

"Why's that, Hiromi-ya?" Taeko asked.

"On Noukiios, such physical mutilation has been outlawed since well before the time of their first worldwide emperor, Muchach, five thousand years ago," the reborn emperor of the Hàn explained. "However, Noukiios has always had a problem with overpopulation. Mother Nature responded with a disease that renders random people barren at birth. Because it is seen as right and proper in that society to do everything to ensure one's life is perpetuated through offspring, such 'eunuchs' are forced to do things like create the perfect swords — _seucheuchet'_, such beautiful blades are called — or other such act that would guarantee their physical immortality in other ways. But forcing such people to endure what my former attendants once did…" She shook her head before asking, "Was the incident in defence of Sarah-chan's grandfather what provoked Master Park to form his delightful little organization of child-kidnappers, Master Yō?"

"Effectively yes," Yō answered. "When K.O. was first formed, it was solely composed of former Green Berets since they were trained right from the start to think on their feet so they could fulfil their primary mission of behind-the-lines support to anti-communist rebels. Over time, Mister Park expanded it to welcome special operations forces personnel from the other services and other nations. American Navy SEALs and Marine Force Recon soldiers, British Special Air Service and Special Boat Service, the various Israeli special forces, Russian Specnaz and other such people." He sighed before he drew out a handkerchief to gently wipe Sarah's face. As the blonde Californian gave him a grateful smile, he gazed on the others. "Sarah-chan's father, Sergeant Patrick Saxton, discovered that certain members of 1st Reconnaissance Battalion's Force Reconnaissance Company — which he was then a part of — were conspiring to smuggle high-grade weapons out of Camp Pendleton to pass on to K.O. He tried reporting it to his superiors, but never realized that one of the senior NCOs of the company was a supporter of Park's group. In punishment for his interference, his car was sabotaged when he was taking his wife up to join his father-in-law at his retreat in northern California."

"And what happened to those who would betray their oath to the Constitution so many over the last two centuries have given the full measure of their devotion to protecting, Master Yō?" Hiromi coldly demanded as ki flared around her.

Yō sadly smiled. "We don't know," he admitted. "Regretfully, the company commander died in a training accident immediately after Patrick and Julie were killed. When he died, the identity of the person who betrayed Patrick to K.O. was lost to us." A wry smile then crossed his face. "Naturally, we do believe that such an 'accident'…"

"Was staged," Noriyasu coldly declared.

"Hai."

Silence fell as people took a moment to consider that as Yō moved to comfort a now-weeping Sarah. Keitarō then perked. "There might be a way to find out."

Everyone gazed on him. "How?!" Haruka demanded.

Her cousin smiled. "Haruka, Camp Pendleton is in _**California**_, remember?" As Haruka gaped in shock at him, Keitarō added, "Not too far from _**Los Angeles**_. Which — as any of our Avalonian friends could loudly assert — was a PRIMARY place of interest for their former masters." He gazed at Yō. "Would your group like to ally themselves with people who — out of simple conviction — would GLADLY help avenge what happened to Sarah-chan? Who was ORPHANED because her father simply did his duty to his country?"

The man known elsewhere as Crying Freeman perked before nodding. "We would."

"Well, now that we've settled that, let's get over to City Hall to get some things done," Taeko declared. "Haruka-ya, will you allow Sarah-ya to stay with you?"

"Damn straight I will!" Haruka declared.

"Then we'll direct some of Tanya-ya's people and their labors down here now to get your shop under the wards," Keitarō's adopted sister declared. "I won't put it past these _kŏndal_ to come after Sarah-ya to force her grandfather to heel in some pathetic show of manliness." She then smirked. "Even if their leader can't really call himself much of a 'man' these days!"

The others laughed on hearing that…

* * *

Narita International Airport, that moment…

"Incredible that they're doing this so soon."

"After what the Noukiites exposed on Tuesday, do you blame them?"

Many in the crowd streaming off a red-eye United flight from Los Angeles murmured their agreement as they moved to queue up at the immigration booths beyond their arrival lounge. Amongst them was a beautiful blonde woman in her late twenties, possessing blue-grey eyes, dressed in a casual business suit. "How soon will Congress vote to let the Avalonians in?" she asked the man who had sparked the conversation; he was currently holding a copy of the previous day's _New York Times_.

"I heard it might go to a full vote in the House either tomorrow or Wednesday. The Senate will vote on it right afterwards," that man — a middle-aged businessman — answered as he closed the paper before he perked, then he offered same to her.

She shook her head as she gave him a polite smile. "At least those poor girls that were in the States before Tuesday are safe," she then noted.

"Yeah, the President took care of that with his Executive Order welcoming them as landed immigrants into the country," the businessman noted. "It's a good thing to make allies with the Avalonians. I was in Dallas when those space-taxis came by last summer to steal all the oil thanks to those 'stormtroopers' who followed that fake Oni girl like they did. Sure as hell surprised me that Usāmah bin Lādin didn't order a hit on those idiots right after it happened."

"You see pictures of those ships those two kids made?" another man — who had the marks of a serving member of the armed forces even if he was in civilians — asked.

"I did! They named our ship _Arizona_!" an older woman stated. "About time they brought _**that**_ name back into the service! They've been clamouring for that for years!"

"I heard those kids were planning all sorts of ship classes when they were in that spacedock they found after they escaped the Ipraedies," another woman noted. "Destroyers, frigates, missile cruisers…even aircraft carriers and support ships!"

"Hey! One of them could be the new _Enterprise_!" the serviceman noted.

"'Space, the final frontier…'" someone else quoted.

Laughter filled the crowd before they began to disperse to form into separate lines to pass through immigration. Within minutes, the blonde traveller was standing at one of the stations, handing over her passport.

"Business or pleasure, Miss Heaven?" the immigration officer asked.

"I'm on vacation," Nina Heaven replied.

A smile answered her as a visa was stamped into her passport. "Welcome to Japan."

"Thank you…"

* * *

The Wafū Chabō Hinata, a half-hour later…

"It is sad that one so young and full of life must grow up so soon."

Hearing that lament from the reborn emperor of the Hàn, Yō took a deep breath. "That's what ultimately makes my current mission for the Society all the more pleasant, Hiromi-san," he admitted as he gazed on her. The Urashima siblings had gone to Hinata City Hall to get the official power of attorney papers that would make Taeko the landlady of the Hinata-sō — not to mention the new legal guardian for Maehara Shinobu and Konno Mitsune — signed before the tokkaebi-turned-sorceress came back to escort Yō to Taitō to look in on Hino Emu. Haruka had gone with Noriyasu to Tōkyō University so he could get the artifacts from Pararontas put into storage before he would teach afternoon classes. Sarah herself was staying in the upstairs bedroom so she could watch television with Terazawa Masako babysitting her. "We understand, you and I, what it means to live and die in battle. You experienced it on Okusei and when you and your siblings attacked Phentax Twelve. I've experienced it almost constantly since I was transformed into Crying Freeman. But someone Sarah-chan's age…"

Hiromi nodded. "I noticed you don't bear any resentment to Obā-san for what she and her husband decided that saw you become the Freeman," she stated.

He smiled. "I lost my real mother when I was Shinobu-chan's age. Yes, I was angry at what Mother Tiger and the others were doing to me after they kidnapped me and turned me into what I am now. But one thing I learned quite early was how to read someone's ki energy. It's the same in your Art, isn't it? How you could — with just a glance using ki sight — easily tell someone's emotions as if you were reading a book?" At his companion's nod, Yō breathed out, "The one overriding thing I was quick to sense from Obā-chan when I really could see her ki for the first time was a profound sense of _**worry**_."

"About what?"

"That I wouldn't be ready to become the Dragon Sun before Father Dragon died."

Hiromi hummed. "I read in my grandmother's diaries how one becomes the new leader of the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì. Do not those who closely advise Obā-san's husband on the Council of the Planets object because you are Japanese by birth?"

"I believe some do," Yō answered. "In their eyes — even if this flagrantly violates the prohibition towards allowing blood offspring to succeed to the leadership of the Society — the leadership should fall on Mother Tiger's own granddaughter, Baahk Ngàhsin…"

"Aniki!"

Both perked before they turned…

"Irasshaimase!" Nagashima Rio called out.

…to gaze upon the MASSIVE woman who had just stepped into the Wafū Chabō. On seeing her — and quickly noting her silver hair, dark eyes and facial tattoos that gave her quite the sinister appearance — Hiromi hummed. "This is Mistress Ngàhsin?"

"She is," Yō said before getting up and walking over to allow the very large newcomer to swamp him in a warm embrace. "Hey! You came quick!"

"I'm always on time!" Ngàhsin said in very good Japanese as she let him go.

"Would you like some tea?" Rio offered.

"Please!" the granddaughter of the current leaders of the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì said with a friendly smile to the pretty girl — one of the Avalonians of Hinata, she was quick to recognize thanks to the other woman's hei signature — who offered such a drink, then she slipped off her outdoor shoes and step off the genkan. She then gazed on the young woman who had been sitting with her adopted brother. "Who…?"

"You must have not kept track of the news," Yō noted in a playfully scolding voice before he waved over. "May I present the new matriarch of the Moroboshi Clan of Mutsu — as well as the reborn Haaulìhng Emperor of Hon — and the adopted sister of both the Saviour of Earth and the Earth Angel, Moroboshi Hiromi-sama."

Hiromi nodded politely as a look of total shock crossed Ngàhsin's face. "Well met to you, Mistress Ngàhsin. I'm sure those enemies who face you in battle all tremble at your approach."

The newcomer sputtered before she remembered her manners, then lowered herself to one knee as she gave the reborn emperor a fist-in-palm salute, bowing her eyes in respect. "Most Gracious Majesty, may the Fates that brought you back grant you the peaceful and bountiful life you've long deserved!" she declared as she gave Hiromi a reverent look.

"I am an emperor of nothing, good lady," Hiromi stated, which made Yō's adopted sister gape in shock on hearing such a passionate statement of humility. "Now, come sit with us while Rio-san fetches you some tea. It is quite good here. I'd like to learn how someone such as you came to bestow such devotion and loyalty to the Freeman of all people. Given that you were known to my late grandmother, I would suspect that you would loudly object to someone born of these isles taking command of the Society."

Ngàhsin grinned as she sat down at the table, moving with stunning grace and agility for one of such incredible girth. "Oh, that's easy to explain," she said as Rio came over with a cup of sencha. Nodding her thanks, she gazed on Hiromi as she thumbed Yō with her free hand. "Aniki here showed me that, even if he IS a dragon — just like his old middle school classmates that survived Rwanda are — in heart, he'd be perfect to succeed Ojii-san and Obā-san as head of the Society."

That made Hiromi perk. "Pray tell me, how so?"

"He told me flat-out that he _**did not feel worthy of it**_!" Ngàhsin winked. "And this was BEFORE I beat the tar out of him to make sure he'd never become the Dragon Sun!"

Hiromi moaned. "Adrenaline junkies!" she muttered before sipping her tea.

Both Yō and Ngàhsin gaped in shock on hearing that before the former then chuckled. As the latter gazed on him, he winked. "It's simple, Ngàhsin. She's a _**ninja**_, remember?" As her jaw dropped, he added, "Ninja don't waste time and energy in useless exercises that could render them weak before the real mission begins. After all, if one has to force-march a thousand léih, then go right into battle, what are the chances of success?"

She blinked several times before crossing her arms. "Damn!" she breathed out. "Never really looked at it _that_ way!" she then confessed before sipping her tea. "The girls and I took a look in on Hino Emu," she reported. "She's in her family home, alone."

He nodded. "Then I must pay her a visit sometime today."

"Did you sense the Lady Emu's ki to learn what she is?" Hiromi asked.

"Hai," the giant warrior-maiden answered. "She's like you, Hiromi-sama."

That made Hiromi grimace. "So why does Emu-san wish to _**die**_?" she asked.

"That, we'll find out very soon," Yō stated.

The three warriors fell quiet as they enjoyed their tea…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) The new names that I chose for the film-replicas introduced at the end of the previous part were partially inspired by the name I gave the earliest version of the concept of the "female Ataru" I introduced years ago in a story I wrote called _The End of Tribulation_ (or _Here's Tariko! Sayonara Ataru!_), which was based on the short story _Tribulation_ by **Rhonda Schell** (archived at RAAC) as well as both the _Master PC_ universe created by **J.R. Parz** and the _Spells 'R' Us_ universe created by **Bill Hart**. When I wrote _The Senior Year_ story "What Price For Love?", I introduced Avalonian replicas of Ataru, Mendō, Shinobu and the Stormtroopers…but I originally named them by dropping the last syllable of the given name and replacing it with "-ko" as in "Atako," "Shūtako," "Shinoko," etc; this followed the "Ranma"/"Ranko" concept introduced in _Ranma 1/2_ when the Tendō family had to try to explain the female version of Saotome Ranma to his mother Nodoka.

To that end, I devised the following names for the Terran-form Avalonian sisters to Shinobu, Mendō and the Stormtroopers:

**Miyake Saiko** — The given name means "talented child" and is written **偲子**. The first kanji of the name is, in _kun'yomi_ format, read "Shinobu"…so this is a nod to the "Shinoko" name to Saiko's counterpart in _TSY_.

**Mendō Tachiko** — The given name means "child of the great sword" and is written **太刀子**. This, of course, is a nod towards her brother's habit of carrying a sword on his person all the time.

**Aisuru Tokiko** — The given name means "child of the moment" and is written **時子**. This is a nod towards Megane's obvious desire to be at the centre of attention, especially when it comes to his precious Lum-san.

**Urayamu Takako** — The given name means "child of height" and is written **高子**. This is an in-joke concerning Chibi's height as he is the smallest of the Stormtroopers.

**Shitto Nijiko** — The given name means "child of the rainbow" and is written **虹子**. Given Perm's looks — as based on Shirai Kōsuke from the original manga — I would imagine a sister of his being something of a fashion freak.

**Daremo Mitsuko** — The given name means "child of the beautiful harbour" and is written **美津子**. This is a reflection of Mitsuko's counterpart from _TSY_, who — while inheriting Kakugari's stocky build — is still quite an attractive person. Also, the "tsu" part of the name uses a kanji that forms the first part of the word **tsunami**.

Of course, **Moroboshi Tariko**'s given name means "child from another village" (or "child from outside the village") and is written **他里子**. This was an in-joke I wrote into _The End of Tribulation_ as a way of acknowledging the fact that a female Ataru — and one who **_accepts_** becoming female — would be so beyond the normal experience of people inside Tomobiki that it would seem that s/he was truly from another place.

As for **Redet Danu**, the inspiration for her name was mentioned in the writer's notes for Part Six.

2) Translations: **Aneki** — A slang, boyish way of addressing one's elder sister; **Dahng Ngaahi** — Cantonese way of saying "Dèng Ài"; **Taaipèhng-sāan** — Literally "mountain of great peace," this is one of several names given to the highest point on Hong Kong Island (which is normally nicknamed "The Peak" by locals); **Hei** — Cantonese way of saying the Mandarin word "qì" or the Japanese "ki" (the life energy in all things); **Machi** — Suffix title for an urban district of a city ward; **Hakase** — Name suffix honorific for a university professor; **Hwan'in-nim** — Literally "Divine Regent," he was the diety who was, according to legend, the grandfather of the founder of modern Korea, **Tan'gun**; **Seucheuchet'** — Literally "blade of the eunuch"; **Specnaz** — Short for _Vojska Special'nogo Naznačeniya_ (literally "special purpose forces"); **Léih** — Cantonese way of saying the Mandarin "lǐ," which is a unit of length equivalent to 500 metres.

As an aside, the **C** without caron in the Scientific Romanization system for Russian represents the voiceless alveolar affricate sound similar to the "ts" sound in the Japanese syllable **tsu**. In normal writing systems, this letter is often Romanized as "ts."

3) _Crying Freeman_ character and situation notes:

The flashback scene depicted here is a re-doing of the events depicted in the first story of the manga. The name I give to Yō's victim in that incident is my invention, as is my description as to what he did that sent Yō after him.

The background story of the **Ōsaka Hakushin-kai**, as noted here, is my invention.

The **Kidnappers Organization** (**K.O.**), their leader **Larry Park** and **Nina Heaven** were introduced in "The Pomegranate" storyline.

**Father Dragon** was first introduced in the twelfth part of the first story, "Yō-san." He is the leader of the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì and remains as one of Yō's senior advisors when he is officially declared the Dragon Sun.

The **Ten Planets** — named after all the planets in the solar system and one man named after the comets that also orbit the Sun — were introduced in the second part of "The Tiger Orchid" storyline. Of course, at the time of the writing of _Crying Freeman_, the minor planet **Pluto** was listed as one of the main planets; it wasn't re-classified until 2006.

And **Baahk Ngàhsin** first appeared in the fourth part of "The Tiger Orchid" storyline.

4) Mendō Haruka's valet — the name **Hikutsu Ōmukai** is my invention — first appeared in the _Yatsura_ manga story "Trouble Drops In" (manga episode #23). As an aside, the reason Haruka doesn't openly speak to anyone has never been explained in either the manga or anime, but given the fact that Takahashi-sensei loves to subject some of her characters to some interesting phobias, that Mendō's mother would be afraid to even TALK openly to someone makes sense to me.

5) For those who don't know, the real names of **Agent Kay** and **Agent Jay** of the Men In Black — as portrayed in the movies by Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith — are **Kevin Brown** and **James Darrell Edwards III** respectively.

6) The ship names introduced here and their explanations:

The _Timūr Gurkānī_ is named after the famous conqueror known commonly in the West as **Tamerlane** (1336-1405), who founded the **Timurid Dynasty** that controlled everything from modern-day Turkey to India and from the Indian Ocean to modern-day Kazakhstan from 1370 to 1507. In fact, the **Mughal Empire** was actually founded by a Timurid prince. He is seen these days as the national hero of Uzbekistan.

The _Prithvi Narayan_ is named after **Prithvi Narayan** (1723-75), the first king of united Nepal; he brought the various smaller kingdoms composing the modern country together by 1769.

The _Mirwais Neeka_ (which literally means "Grandfather Mirwais") is named after **Mirwais Khan Hotak** (1673-1715), an influential chief of the Pashtun people who fought to keep his tribal areas free of foreign influence, especially from the Persian Empire to the west of modern-day Afghanistan. He is seen by some people as the Afghan equivalent to George Washington.

The _Rās Dāshen_ (which literally means "head guard") is named after Ethiopia's highest mountain. Located in the northern part of the country close to the border with Eritrea, Rās Dāshen rises 4550 metres above sea level.

And the _Kioga_ is named after **Lake Kyoga**, the largest internal lake inside the borders of Uganda. This lake is a part of the Victoria Nile branch of Africa's longest river and has a total area of 1720 square kilometres.

As for the _Zhèng Hé_ and the _Paekbŏm_, the explanations behind the people they were named in honour of is given in the writer's notes for Part 11 of _Phoenix From the Ashes_.

7) **Ogata Eizō** of the Kōbe Sannō-kai was first introduced in the _Sanctuary_ manga story "The Kōbe Sannō Association" (manga episode #46).

8) As fans of _Love Hina_ know, the capital city of the **Turtle Kingdom of Pararontas** shares the same name as the abbreviation of the name of **Tōkyō University** in Japanese. However, since I postulated that the natives of Molmol are descent of migrants from India during the Mughal Dynasty, it made sense to me that the language of the island would now be closely related to **Urdu**, the variation of the Hindustani language spoken today in Pakistan and in many parts of India; this language actually developed during the Mughal years. Thus — even if the language would be influenced by neighbouring island languages such as **Kiribati** (the native language of the island nation of the same name) — standard Urdu phonics would be predominant in local terminology on Molmol. Hence, I changed "Tōdai" into something that sounded more in line with Urdu, coming up with **Tōḍēi** (pronounced **t̪o:ɖeɪ**). This means that the first "t" is a voiceless dental stop sound similar to _talk_ in New York English, the "o" is a close mid-back rounded vowel akin to _yawn_ in Australian English, the "d" is a voiced retroflex stop similar to the Sweedish _nord_ ("north"), the "e" is a close mid-front unrounded vowel like _bed_ and the "i" is a near-close near-front unrounded vowel like _bit_.

9) **Seta Noriyasu**'s trusty van indicated here is the same model that was depicted in the original manga. The fifth generation **Subaru Sambar Dias Classic** was produced between 1990-98.

As an aside, the background story of **Sarah MacDougall** was never really delved on in the _Love Hina_ manga series. Her mother's name, **Julia MacDougall**, was mentioned in the manga, but nothing at all was said about Sarah's father, much less what happened to him; the fact that Julia had passed away was confirmed in the manga.

10) For those who haven't yet read _The Senior Year_, I based the **War of Clone Rights** that ended up destroying the Fourth Sagussan Republic over a period of five centuries on a similarly-named war that occurred on the planet Krypton as depicted in _The World of Krypton_ mini-series written by **John Byrne** (born 1950) in the late 1980s.

11) **Gojosŏn** (literally "Old Chosŏn") was the first kingdom to establish itself on the Korean peninsula whose existence is backed by some form of historical evidence. The kingdom was said to be founded by Tan'gun in 2333 B.C.E. in the area around P'yŏng'yang and existed up to its conquest by the Hàn Dynasty in 108 B.C.E. It would be eventually succeeded in that part of the peninsula by **Koguryŏ**. Koguryŏ was formed in 37 B.C.E. and would exist straight through to 668 C.E., when it was conquered by Shilla. Koguryŏ would be somewhat reformed in 918 as **T'aebong** (also called **Hugoguryŏ** or "Later Koguryŏ"), which would then evolve into the first truly unified Korean state, **Koryŏ**, in 936.

As an aside, **Shilla** itself was founded in 57 B.C.E. in the southeast part of the peninsula. It succeeded in conquering Paekche in 660 C.E. and Koguryŏ eight years later, creating the **Unified Shilla** state that would effectively maintain control over most of the peninsula with help from the **Táng Dynasty** of China. When Táng collapsed into the **Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period** in 907, the kings of Shilla lost a very powerful ally, which prompted the founders of Hugoguryŏ and Hubaekche to launch rebellions in the west and north of the country. The forces of Hugoguryŏ eventually won out.

12) American military unit notes:

The **5th Special Forces Group (Airborne)** (short-form **5 SFG[A]**) was first activated on 21 September 1961. It is one of the most highly-decorated units of the Green Berets, serving in Vietnam, both Persian Gulf Wars, Somalia and Afghanistan. Currently, it is based at **Fort Campbell**, an Army post astride the Kentucky-Tennessee border east of the Tennessee River next to I-24 seventy kilometres northwest of Nashville. The unit is currently assigned to work as a combat element of **United States Central Command** (**US CENTCOM**). The unit is composed of four operational battalions, a support battalion and a headquarters company.

The **1st Reconnaissance Battalion** (**1st Recon Bn**) of the United States Marine Corps was first activated on 1 March 1937 as a reconnaissance company; it would not be expanded to battalion size until 1958. This unit served in the Pacific Theatre of World War Two, plus also saw action in Korea, Vietnam and both Persian Gulf Wars. Currently an element of the **1st Marine Division**, the battalion is based at **Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton** between I-5 and I-15 forty kilometres west-of-north from San Diego. As noted above, the battalion has a **Force Reconnaissance** (**FORECON**) Company, which serves in the special operations forces role.


	18. Tirtha Launches Molmol's Spring

Tomobiki High School, lunchtime…

"She quit the team?!"

"Do you blame her?" Gekasawa Kumiko mused as she and Marubeya Momoe enjoyed their lunches inside Class 1-4. "People should have noticed right away that something was wrong when they started forgetting Chigaiko-chan's name. Why didn't they say something to Sakura-sensei? Why didn't she pick up on what was going on?!"

Momoe shook her head. "I don't know…!"

Both girls looked over to the empty desk near the back corner of the room close to the windows. The classroom looked almost as good as new; thanks to the many odd incidents that had rocked Tomobiki High since Redet Hensō began attending classes shortly after the start of the fall term, local construction companies — whose services were paid for by the national government — were always on call to deal with any damage right away to ensure no disruption of classes. When she had come into school today, Inu Chigaiko — who had been driven in by Hyŏng Misuk, one of the ethnic Koreans their age who attended the Saeng'ya Seminar and delivered food for the Rāmen Nekohanten two blocks from Tomobiki High's front gates — had gone into the staff office with two letters in hand. She walked out immediately afterwards, not saying a word as she came to class. On seeing her, her classmates were all cowered by the vile look on Chigaiko's face when she had taken her seat…though Miyake Shinobu had immediately moved to apologize for not coming to help her when she desperately needed it.

Chigaiko's words in response had spoken volumes:

"_It's no wonder Ataru-kun sees you now as a_ **monster** _who deserves to be_ **exterminated**_!_"

Those words had sent Moroboshi Ataru's former girlfriend fleeing in tears.

The rest of the class got the hint right away and let her be.

"So what do you suppose she wants with Rumiko-chan and Hideyuki-kun?" Kumiko wondered.

Momoe shrugged…

* * *

The clock tower of Tomobiki High was — outside Class 1-4 itself — the most well-known location inside the most infamous place of modern education in Japan if not the whole world. It was within the confines of the tower belfry that the four founding members of Lum's Stormtroopers gathered shortly after the Tag Race to hopefully call down the beautiful alien warlord's daughter so they could profess their love and devotion to her…which ultimately provoked the "world oil-theft" incident that would eventually paint huge target signs on their backs thanks to groups such as al-Qā'idah. Six months later, a harsh interrogation of Moroboshi Ataru was carried out in the belfry by the Stormtroopers and the leader of the school's torture studies club, Sedoyama Keizō — all five later joined by Mendō Shūtarō, Miyake Shinobu and a certain Oni warlord's daughter — in the wake of the delivery of invitations to a pending wedding between the Terran tag race champion and a strange woman named Elle to people's homes. That particular incident would eventually lead all of Class 1-4 on a wild adventure that would end with a shocking revelation about the truth concerning the woman people once knew as "Redet Lum."

Now the belfry was the scene of another incredible event.

Though what was now being revealed by Inu Chigaiko to two of her classmates obviously had to be kept top secret from everyone else in the school for the time being.

As they tried not to faint from the information overload that had just been dumped into their brains, both Tsuruya Rumiko and Mifune Hideyuki found themselves realizing that the insanity that had ruled their lives for eight months had yet to fade away.

What was worse, it could no longer be seen as any sort of "living circus!"

That had been the term Miyake Shinobu used to describe the general feel of events over the previous six months to reporters who interviewed her after she had been brought back to Earth in January by the "Black-Haired Bandit Slayer," Seu-Euch Yesu-A Hechnich'-Kachnuk of K'uongno, and her adopted sister, Seu-Nuk Yesu-K'i Hechnich'-Kingch'eng of K'uongno.

As to what it WAS becoming, neither of them could say…!

"She's…a _**fembot**_?!"

"Well, 'gynoid' is the proper term for someone like Misuk-a, Rumiko-chan," Chigaiko said as she waved to the totally-still Hyŏng Misuk, now standing close to the safety rail surrounding the hole in the floor over which the school bell hung. Dressed in her normal delivery clothes of a button shirt, worn blue jeans and a jacket with the insignia of Rāmen Nekohanten on her back, the tomboy now had a thousand-yard stare on her face. That was thanks to Chigaiko, who had commanded her new slave lover — she tried desperately not to feel too much nausea on thinking of Misuk as something like _that_! — to open her shirt to reveal the circuit hatch on her breastbone; once it was opened, Chigaiko touched the switch that shut down Misuk's higher brain functions, effectively deactivating her. "To be very specific, Misuk-a here is a Type 33G. That's a model of 'intimate companion gynoid' — a sex-robot, in other words — that's built on a planet named Zeiwan, which is not too far away from Phentax Two. She first came on-line a year ago in Takamatsu, then moved to Tomobiki. Reason why…?" She then shrugged. "She was never programmed with that information."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"Gods!" Hideyuki groaned out. "I can see why you put those ofuda on the underside of the floor here when we came up to have lunch! If people found that out…!"

He shook his head as he turned to gaze out the front window of the belfry onto the grounds. "Is she safe now?" Rumiko asked as she peered intently into Misuk's face.

"According to the Avalonians from Taian, Shakkō and Butsumetsu who first discovered girls like Misuk-a in town, once a gynoid of their model has sex with anyone after activation, a loyalty lock program — just like what was forced on the Avalonians! — kicks in to make her view that person as her master or mistress." As Rumiko and Hideyuki winced on hearing that, Chigaiko sighed. "Much that I NEVER imagined my first time in bed with someone would be with a _girl_ — to say anything of her being a _**gynoid**_ of all things! — I have to say that Misuk-a and all her sisters are VERY well-programmed to give you all the love and comfort you can ever ask for!" She breathed out before she gazed sadly on her new lover.

"How did you find out about this?" Rumiko asked.

"Last night, the Butsumetsu girls gym teacher, Morisaki Midori-sensei, came by Toranoseishin Finances to tell me what was going on," Chigaiko answered. "Misuk-a and her sisters all have freedom of choice over who'd they want to be their master or mistress…but in the last couple of months, they've started to feel a sense of urgency over getting one as soon as possible. Whoever started this just built them, programmed them to come to Tomobiki, then just LEFT them to fend for themselves!" She reached over to gently squeeze the gynoid's shoulders in a show of love and caring. "Thank the gods that whoever did this programmed them to care for themselves in case they suffered minor system breakdowns. Their 'elder sisters' at the Saeng'ya Seminar and the Dobu Salada are programmed to handle second-line care. Third-line would have to go all the way back to Zeiwan…or to whoever the hell it was that sent them here!"

"Yŏn'i-ya is one of them, right?"

Both women gazed on Hideyuki, who had a pale look on his face. "Yeah," Chigaiko breathed out before she smirked. "But she wants you, Hideyuki-kun. Just like Misuk-a felt for me when we first met at the Rāmen Nekohanten after she started working there, Yŏn'i-ya got a crush on you when she first saw you at the Dobu Salada just after Redet came to Earth." As he turned a deep shade of red on hearing that, she winked. "Go for it! You get the girl you've really wanted all along…and if the Avalonians can make sure it happens without problems, Yŏn'i-ya, Misuk-a and all the gynoids in town will become bioroids before the end of the month. Once that happens, they can write their entrance examinations and transfer here."

The others nodded. "Is there one for me?" Rumiko then quietly asked.

Chigaiko grinned. "You get TWO girls, Rumiko-chan!" she declared, which made Class 1-4's only lesbian student gape in shock. "They're the waitresses at Okonomiyaki Nihon you love to watch all the time when you go there to eat: Yi Kyŏngmi and Pak Insuk."

Hideyuki tried not to laugh on seeing blood start to leak from Rumiko's nose as she tried not to faint. It was with pretty good reason. Yi Kyŏngmi — the younger sister of Yi Kyŏng'ŭn, the owner of the Dobu Salada — was a gorgeous girl who would also be a first-year high school student that shared her older sister's royal blue eyes and had the trim yet muscular body of a serious athlete; the one real difference besides physical age was that Kyŏngmi had rich red hair that was normally tied in a high ponytail. And while it sometimes struck people as odd that Kyŏngmi worked at a different restaurant than the one Kyŏng'ŭn owned, it didn't raise complaints; after all, Okonomiyaki Nihon — which was a block over from the Rāmen Nekohanten — catered normally to the Tomobiki and Butsumetsu crowd while the Dobu Salada was the main hangout for students who went to Taian and Shakkō. Kyŏngmi was also very close friends to Pak Insuk, a too-cute-for-words girl the same age, possessing light pink hair that went to mid-back and lavender-brown eyes which gave her an innocent aura. Ever since she had first met the pair of Saeng'ya students, Rumiko privately suspected that Kyŏngmi and Insuk were intimate lovers…but to learn THAT…!

"Why me?" she demurely asked.

Chigaiko shrugged. "They're programmed to recognize all forms of human facial expression, even from people who do their best to mask their emotions from outside notice. They knew right away that you were attracted to them, Rumiko-chan. Atop that, a lot of our schoolmates hang out where they work. Hearing other girls moan and swoon for Sword-for-Brains all the time made Kyŏngmi-ya and Insuk-a realize you weren't getting anything at all, even the normal stuff that goes on between girls in high school!"

Hearing that made Rumiko groan. "Oh, gods! You can say that again, Chigaiko-chan! I swear, given how much those idiots love to chase after Mendō all the time — with them all knowing that he's dating Miyake! — it makes me wonder if they'd all go to a nunnery once he finally pops the big question on her or anyone else!" She shook her head before taking a deep breath. "Much that I personally don't care at all to enslave a pair of beautiful girls like Kyŏngmi-ya and Insuk-a, given that our Avalonian friends in town intend to make them and their sisters bioroids soon enough…" She took another deep breath before exhaling out, "…well, all we really need to do now is get someone to go find out who brought them here and why, right?"

"Hai," Chigaiko answered. "Negako-san and the folks at Toranoseishin will look in on that as soon as things with Misuk-a's sisters are all under control."

The other girl nodded. "Okay, I'm in. What about you, Hideyuki-kun?"

He blinked before sighing. "Well, much that I'd love to sleep with Yŏn'i-ya — I always thought she was as beautiful if not more so than Hensō-chan, crazy as it sounds for someone like ME to say that in the first place! — and actually do 'it' with her, I don't like the idea of turning her into my personal sex-slave," he confessed as he crossed his arms. "Are the Avalonians getting other people to help out here?"

"Hai. The others from the Dobu Salada will be paired up with Avalonians from Taian and Shakkō; there are no other 'normal' people that attracted the attention of any of them since they came here. The other girls close to here and Ch'ŏn-sensei over at Saeng'ya will be looked after by my sister's classmates and one of the teachers at Butsumetsu."

Hideyuki breathed out. "Well, I guess I'm in, too," he vowed before perking. "Hey, do Ataru and his sisters know about all this?" he then asked.

"Probably. Negako-san didn't say anything about that," Chigaiko answered before she reached over to tap the activation switch in Misuk's circuit hatch. "Sorry about that, Misuk-a," she apologized while flashes of light danced over the Korean-form gynoid's hazel eyes before she blinked a couple times as her chest started to rise and fall in breathing.

"It's alright, Chigaiko-chan," Misuk said as she stretched herself before she leaned over to gently kiss her lover/mistress on the lips. "This is for the others."

"You really aren't bothered by this whole thing, are you?" Rumiko noted as they moved to sit on the blanket Misuk had brought with her delivery box so they could enjoy some piping hot miso rāmen with all the fixings.

Misuk immediately moved to serve them. "What actually bothered me, Rumiko-san, was the fact that I _didn't_ have a master or mistress," she stated as she willed the circuit hatch over her breastbone closed. "Before last night, there was this little voice always chanting inside my central processors that I had to get one as soon as possible. According to Negako-sama, if I didn't get one — she learned this from a friend of Lum-san's who owns an android/gynoid factory on Zeiwan — the chanting would have grown to the point where I might have eventually suffered a cascade failure in all my internal functions."

Hideyuki winced. "That's bad, right?"

"It'd be like falling into a permanent coma to someone like me," Misuk said before she pulled out an extra bowl of rāmen. "Ah! The Elixir of Life itself!" she crooned. "Itadakimasu!" And with that, she broke open a pair of chopsticks before digging in.

That made Chigaiko's classmates gape. "You can eat?!" Rumiko demanded.

"Sure I can!" Misuk answered after slurping down some of the homemade noodles. "I need the physical matter for the nanites in my body to use to repair any damaged components. It's no different than your bodies using food to heal injuries or regenerate cells."

The others nodded before they turned back to their rōmen…just as a banging noise echoed from the hatchway that led down to the third floor. "Hey! Open this damned hatch up!" a familiar — and now quite unwelcome — voice echoed through the open hole in the floor under the bell. "Who the hell locked this up?! Is someone there?! Hey! Open up!"

Chigaiko snarled as she bolted to her feet. Snaring a cinder block from a nearby pile of construction materials — they were prepositioned all over the school to allow repair crews ready access to such things when they were called in to rebuild the place — she then knelt down to flip open the lock that kept the maintenance hatchway leading into the belfry closed off. As she opened it, she glared down at a wide-eyed Megane, who was ahead of the other core members of the Stormtroopers. "Sorry, Megane," she said with faux sweetness. "This place is closed for the time being!" Before he could reply, she then dropped the cinder block on his head.

_CRUNCH!_

As Megane gargled from the impact that nearly crushed his skull, he dropped back to collide with his friends, sending all of them tumbling down to the third floor landing in a heap of arms and legs. Chigaiko smirked as she closed and locked the hatch before heading back over to finish her lunch. "That was mean!" Hideyuki breathed out.

The former basketball team forward sighed. "Hideyuki-kun, it's either pound some sense into them now…or wait until al-Qā'idah or some other group of idiots come along to make them ashes in their family plots!" she stated. "Which would you prefer?!"

He jolted before nodding in understanding…

* * *

Molmol City, the Seraglio, that moment (local time: Mid-afternoon)…

"I always knew there was something strange about you, Tirtha…but believe me, I never once suspected it would be THAT!"

Tirtha Sapta chuckled before nodding her thanks as a cup of roasted Colombian coffee was handed to her. "I'm sorry I lied to you, Huram," she apologized. "But…"

"Oh, enough!" Huram Haseki said with a laugh as she sat down across from her visitor and — up to when the Elder Mother of the Avalonians on Molmol was relieved of her post as Kaolla Su's governess by Panda Gan over two years ago — frequent lover. A woman with Oriental facial features appearing to be in her late twenties, Huram had the normal dusky skin of a native of Molmol matched to wavy dark brown hair that went to her shoulders and almost-black eyes. As was common for the escorts and prostitutes that worked in the capital city's red light district located to the east of King Laran Park, she was dressed now in clothing that revealed a lot more than what the typical sports bra-and-baggy trousers look that Molmolite women often preferred did; both were currently in Huram's private office on the ground floor of one of the urban apartment blocks that lined both sides of the main street of the Seraglio, Valide Avenue. "I've always liked you, Tirtha," she admitted. "You're a wonderful lover and a delightful friend. And I've seen all the reports about that DNA lock your former masters forced on your people on NHK, the BBC and CNN. Remember, I studied about the magical loyalty stones Grindelwald's vixens took out in Europe during the War of Liberation at Salem. I know what they ultimately did to all the magicals in Asia, Africa and the East Indies. You've nothing to apologize for."

"Still, I had to acknowledge it, Huram," the royal governess noted before she moved to switch on to a less sombre topic. "So how are things here, anyway? My sisters and I haven't come down to the capital that often since Kaolla went to Japan two years ago; we've pretty much fallen behind on the juicy gossip you girls collect."

That made Huram laugh. She was currently the madame of one of twelve licensed groups of escorts that worked in the Seraglio. Prostitution was fully legal and monitored by both the Royal Ministry of Health and the Royal Constabulary; this ensured that people that worked in the world's oldest profession on Molmol were afforded as much protection as could be given by medical doctors and police officers alike. That relaxed attitude came about over the years thanks to a progressive and open view towards sex expressed by the natives of this island — which shocked those who visited Molmol from other countries given that most of the inhabitants were devout Muslims — that also demanded such things as detailed sex education to children in the last year of middle school and free access to contraceptives for both genders. Even the Japanese soldiers and sailors who had stayed on Molmol Island during the Greater East Asia War hadn't done as so many of their compatriots did to women elsewhere; the commander of the local garrison, Major General Anami Ryūsuke, had been raised in the true ways of the samurai and would _**never**_ condone his subordinates turning young female Molmolites into mere "comfort women." Because of that, he had been allowed to retire on Molmol after the war, as did many who had served under him, including Huram's own grandfather, Captain Haseki Ichirō.

"Well, did you hear what the Crown Princess did to the Gan brothers?" Huram asked.

A smirk answered her. "Surya told me all the gory details!" Tirtha then sighed. "We had to make her one of us." As her host gasped, the royal governess added, "That was because of some old war injury of hers. Don't believe that story about a potions accident giving her youth back." Which was something of the truth but not the WHOLE truth, Tirtha mused; Huram could be filled in on all the gory details once all the necessary security measures were in place. "That injury is what led her to make a mistake when it came to how to treat Kaolla after she was hurt on Wednesday."

"What do you mean?"

"Did you know Kaolla only scores fifty-two points on the Neuwied Test?"

Huram's jaw dropped. "Allāh! That's impossible! What about the Crimson Moon?!"

"Ruby meson deposit in the Windy Desert. We just confirmed it earlier today. The particle count in her blood stream is fifty-two parts per million."

Silence fell as the brothel madame considered that before she sat back in her chair. Huram had studied meson and its effects in potions class at Salem…and almost EVERYONE on Earth, magical and normal alike, remembered what had happened during World War Two when it came to metahuman genetic research fuelled by ebony meson. "She's a _metahuman_?!" she exclaimed. "Allāh! What about Amalla?!"

"We think she's the same way, but we haven't had the chance to do a deep scan of her."

Taking that in, Huram nodded before sipping her coffee. "Well, given that Surya did fight under Mistress Tsukuyomi during the war, she would understand a LOT about meson and how it affects people. And ruby meson is much safer than ebony, so Kaolla should turn out okay in the end." Given that Huram and Tirtha had been lovers for the better part of ten years, the former always referred to the young princess and her sister by their given names when in private. "So how soon will she be back on her feet?"

"Tomorrow afternoon at the latest. And she'll be back in Japan."

The brothel madame nodded. "That's good. She always seemed so happy there." She then sighed. "Though I can understand where the Lady Taeko is coming from when it comes to her brother. Kaolla sure was rough with him at times, wasn't he?"

Tirtha tried not to grin too much. "It still amazes me that so many people here see what she did with Keitarō simply as 'playing' with him."

"Keep the Princess happy, remember?"

A sigh answered her. "True, true." The royal governess then smirked. "You girls must be relieved to be free of Ganda for at least a couple of days," she noted.

A relieved groan answered her. "We are! Believe you me, Tirtha, we are!" her host replied. Tirtha remembered well the many complaints her friend had made concerning Ganda Gan and his willingness to skip out on paying for services rendered by Huram and her friends in the Seraglio…to say anything of his lewd behaviour towards the prostitutes here even when he wasn't taking any of them to bed. The girls who lived in this part of Molmol City often asked themselves how it was possible that such a disgusting idiot had been given such an important post as Royal Herald. "But he'll be back here with a vengeance as soon as he gets his bones knitted." She snickered. "Is it true?!" At Tirtha's confused look, Huram asked, "That it was _**Moroboshi Ataru**_ of all people who gave Amalla that mallet she used on Ganda in the Palace yesterday?!"

Her guest nodded before both broke down and laughed. It was a well-kept secret amongst the prostitutes and escorts of the Seraglio that Amalla Su began frequently visiting their establishments after she came of age six years ago. Huram now suspected that Tirtha and her sister Avalonian-Molmolites were in on that secret…though, given their bisexuality, they clearly wouldn't care at all about that sort of thing. While such activities — if they ever were revealed to the public — wouldn't be seen as scandalous in the eyes of most Molmolites as they might be in countries such as Britain, there were those conservative elders who wouldn't care to see Amalla engage in such behaviour. Then again, Tirtha found herself musing over the last few days when she hadn't been distracted by other things, it was those self-same "wise men" who had pushed for the Crown to be passed to Lamba Lu when Amalla's parents died; the modern Constitution of Molmol — inspired in part by the suffragist movement in America at the turn of the Twentieth Century that effectively began the drive for equal gender rights — DID allow women to serve as monarch if there was no male heir to become the new king.

"Has she been around here lately?" Tirtha asked.

"Amalla?" Here, Huram sighed. "Not since shortly after you went back to Kasi. Which is a shame; she is quite the spirited lover." She sipped her coffee. "Haven't you met up with her since the Liberation happened? I know you visited Kaolla at the Hospital."

Her guest shook her head. "No, I haven't had reason to go to the Palace. Besides, I've been too busy arranging to keep all of Kasi protected." At Huram's confused look, Tirtha smirked. "Huram, think about it for a moment. Even if we did our best to make ourselves accepted among the people here in Molmol, how would YOU react if you found out about Mother's people and what they did on Earth? Especially in Tomobiki?"

Huram hummed as she considered that point before she breathed out, "I'd be quite scared and angry. If I didn't accept whatever explanation was given to me about how your people were treated by your masters, I'd probably lump you with them."

"So what could possibly happen if certain people on the island — say those who forced Amalla away from the Throne — find out the truth about people like myself?"

That made the brothel madame perk. "What are you saying?"

"I'm not _saying_ a thing. I have an _**idea**_ as to what might be happening, but no clear facts to back it up," Tirtha stated. "Before they lost their parents, Amalla and Kaolla were the heiress apparent and the second-in-line to the Throne respectively. Look what happened. When Their Majesties died, the Royal Parliament proclaimed Lamba king. Amalla didn't protest a thing when he was crowned. Now that I can concentrate on that sort of thing, I have to seriously ask why. Lamba is a paternal cousin of the family, not the late King's son or daughter. Atop that, I KNOW that there was no talk of marriage — either with Amalla or Kaolla — between Lamba's family and the late King before he died." She shrugged. "So what's going on here?"

The brothel madame blinked for a moment — during the many times she had seen to Amalla's carnal wants, the crown princess often bemoaned her potential fate, so Huram knew the other woman was mentally preparing herself to ascend the Throne — before she gaped as it hit her with the speed of a rampaging hippogriff. "Imperius?!" she hissed.

A nod answered her. "Maybe. Like I said, I haven't run into Amalla since I came down from Kasi to look in on Kaolla after she was brought back from Japan, so I can't confirm that either which way. Besides, I'm not magical, so I couldn't tell if she was subjected to that or some potion regime that mimics the effects of that curse," Tirtha stated before she crossed her arms. "What's worse — if this is actually true — Surya and all those who work for the Royal Ministry of Magic couldn't really look in on this as it's flatly forbidden to draw wands in the presence of any member of the Royal Family without their permission; their magical oaths of loyalty to the Crown would block them from doing that."

"Which — if Amalla IS under the control of an Imperius Curse or something like it — she obviously wouldn't give. Wandless magic is permitted, but not in any threatening manner," Huram breathed out. "Oh, Allāh! Do you realize what you're saying?!"

"As I said, I'm not saying a thing! What CAN I say if I don't have proof?"

Considering that, Huram breathed out, "True…"

"What I can _do_, however — if Amalla IS under the effect of an Imperius or some behavioural-altering potion — is arrange to help break her free of that. In my eyes, the best way to do that is to do what I'm going to do for Kaolla tomorrow morning once we get her back to the Hinata House in Japan and what we had to do for Surya on the weekend: A body-swap."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"Make Amalla and Kaolla like you?!" Huram gasped.

"Of course!" Tirtha stated. "We have MILLIONS of non-templated bodies sitting up on the bioroid factory, all ready to use! Allowing normal Terrans to become Avalonians is no problem for us whatsoever! It's happened many times before, Huram. There are at least several hundred people I now know of — outside Moroboshi Negako, her sisters and Urashima Taeko — across Earth who have undergone this!" She then grinned as she gave the brothel madame a knowing look. "Did you know _**Rose Potter**_ is an Avalonian?!"

That made her host's jaw drop in stunned disbelief. Rose Potter was the sister of the famous British wizard Harry Potter. Saved — as were at least ninety other witches from Great Britain and Northern Ireland who would have been born sometime in the late 1970s and the early 1980s hadn't the First Blood War launched by Voldemort and the Death Eaters cut down their mothers while they were all pregnant — by the so-called "Curse of Helga Hufflepuff" said to have been cast by the legendary and motherly Hogwarts founder to protect and preserve the living souls of unborn or newly-born babies from the vile actions of dark wizards, Rose and her countrywomen were given new life by unknown means and allowed to attend the United Kingdom's other main magical school, the Meridiana Magic Academy in the mountains of Wales. Later apprenticed to Yomigawa Tsukiko for post-graduate studies in Japan, Rose — along with close friends Raven Malfoy, Cassiopeia Lestrange, Grace Longbottom, Charlotte Crabbe and Ariel Goyle — would go back to Britain in the late summer of 1997 to help Harry destroy Voldemort at the Battle of Hogwarts; Rose, Raven and Cassiopeia had also been involved at the Battle of the Department of Mysteries in London the previous spring when Voldemort had made his first public appearance in almost fifteen years. These days, Rose was apprenticing with a magical healer in Ariadne on Nerio, splitting her time between the largest city on Mars' sister planet and her brother's current place of residence in the Islington section of London. While there had been attempts at trying to understand how the living spirit of Lily Potter's then-unborn baby daughter — who should have died with her mother that tragic Hallowe'en evening in 1981 — and all her friends had been given physical form, nothing had been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt…though such investigations had probably been hindered by the enforced legal separation between Meridiana-trained mages and Hogwarts-trained wizards and witches that had ultimately divided magicals across the British Isles for over three centuries.

"Rose is an Avalonian?!" Huram exclaimed.

"Yes, she is. This was confirmed on Wednesday afternoon their time. Ditto with Raven Malfoy and all the others," Tirtha confirmed with a nod. "The adopted daughter of the late chief observer in Manchester, Alice Holmes, noted there were disembodied spirits of babies floating around all over Great Britain. Once she got the chance to psionically communicate with one, she realized that something had saved their souls from passing through the Veil of the Te'a, then — with her father's approval; he was actually one of Grandfather Ganzo's many hidden supporters — went out to capture those poor souls in meson crystals. That took her up to 1986 to complete since she had to visit many magically-hidden places across the British Isles. Once that was done, she had new bodies created for them at the youngest physical age possible for bioroids — making them genetic daughters of their parents, of course — to allow them to live the lives that idiot Riddle and his fools denied them all. Once they were on their feet, the magical detection grid the founders of Hogwarts and Meridiana made back in the Tenth Century picked up on them, then relayed the news to the Roll Book at the latter school. Invitations were sent out to all of them within a year."

The other woman nodded. "Didn't Alice's father get into trouble over that?"

Tirtha grinned. "When he realized how bad the problem with girls like Rose really was, he deliberately sabotaged all the systems that kept him in contact with his superiors back on Phentax Two," she reported. "Losing contact with home is an accepted hazard of being sent out to a planet like Earth. In effect, he became the leader of one of the 'Lost Posts,' just like Mother did." The smile faded. "He died shortly afterwards; it was a genetic disorder similar to muscular dystrophy."

Hearing that made her host bow her eyes in sympathy over the loss of such a brave and moral man. "I know Allāh is looking after him now in Paradise," she quietly stated before perking. "Why didn't any of his friends who were in Britain at the time go over to Manchester to look in on him?" she then asked.

"That was forbidden back then," Tirtha explained. "Since it could have been noticed by local internal security authorities, people like Mother and Alice's father were under orders to NEVER initiate contact with any of their countrymen outside their observation zone unless it was cleared by their controllers back on Phentax Two…which NEVER happened, by the way. Most people like that were lone workers; it's only been in the last few years that teams of observers — usually up to twelve people maximum per team — were sent to Earth to watch over large areas of territory. But even then, contact was kept to a bare minimum between the various observation teams." She winked. "'Constant vigilance,' after all," she quoted the famous British master auror Alastor Moody.

Both women laughed as they recalled the many tales about the retired hunter of dark wizards and witches known more commonly as "Mad-Eye," who currently was enjoying his hard-earned retirement somewhere in Britain after fighting at Harry Potter's side during the summer campaign against the Death Eaters in 1997. "Maybe you should create some pretty girls for Master Alastor to adopt as his children and heiresses," Huram proposed.

Tirtha smirked. "You could propose that to Alice directly."

That made the brothel madame blink. "What do you mean?"

"Amalla and Kaolla are not the only ones I'd like to see become sisters, Huram."

That made Huram blink before she noted the look of determination on her guest's face. Seeing that made her pause before her eyes went wide. "M-m-me…?!"

"Every girl in the Seraglio and all female relatives of same," Tirtha stated.

THAT made Huram's jaw drop in shock. "Wh-wh-why…?"

A knowing smirk answered her. "Huram, if you drew your wand on Ganda, what would happen?"

A look of helpless frustration crossed the other woman's face. "I'd lose my license to practice! I'd be arrested for threatening a government official atop that!" Huram then snapped. "I may not be bound by magical oaths of loyalty as Surya and her friends are to the Crown, but I know the law, Tirtha! That idiot's the Royal Herald! It would be like drawing the wand on the King himself! It could be seen as treason!"

"Well, isn't it a pity that the Royal Parliament has NEVER regulated any form of non-magical _**metahuman**_ power ever since the first mystery men appeared in the 1930s."

Silence fell as Tirtha's host considered that. "That's right…!" she breathed out. "It's against the law to engage in any metahuman genetic research — that's because of what happened to those idiots the War Hawks had to hunt down during the Greater East Asia War — but if it happens _naturally_ like with Kaolla and Amalla…"

"Or is a proven safe gift from a friendly foreign power," Tirtha noted. "Which the Republic of New Avalon can become once Otako Meinyak gets things organized."

Huram blinked. "You support our drive for independence?"

Tirtha laughed. "Huram, we ARE independent!" she declared. "We've been effectively independent all along!" She sighed. "I do support the nations of Earth recognizing that fact, especially nations like America, Canada and all the major European powers. We know that China recognized us as part and parcel of the rivalries of the Cold War. All the nations in South America that recognized us did it as a way of thumbing their noses at _los gringos estúpidos_ in Washington." As Huram laughed on hearing the other woman say that phrase in nearly accent-less Spanish, the royal governess then added, "I gladly support Molmol winning a seat in the United Nations AND the International Conference of Magical Communities. I may be Avalonian genetically, but I was born and raised _**here**_! _**This**_ is my home country, Huram!" she emphasized as she pointed down to the floor under their feet. "_**This**_ is the place where I want to find a bond-mate and raise my family, just like a dozen of my sisters back in Kasi are doing right now. And when the time finally comes — hopefully, Fates willing, long in the future — that I die and my spirit passes through the Te'a to what lies Beyond, I will do that _**here**_ in Molmol and have my mortal remains interred in the cemetery at Kasi alongside my mother and those of my friends I've lost." Her eyes then teared. "I can live for EIGHT CENTURIES, Huram! How do you think I feel every time I remember that you and my other 'normal' friends here in Molmol will die before I physically reach my late TWENTIES?!" She shook her head. "As Lyna is my witness, Huram, I don't WANT that! Would you?!"

She then shuddered as sobs began to escape her…which instantly saw the Elder Mother of the Avalonians on Molmol in the arms of her host. As Huram shushed the weeping Tirtha, she then tensed on hearing footfalls. Looking over to the open doorway of her office, she smiled on seeing Malfirz Hatice standing there. Another of the brothel madames who supervised things in the Seraglio, the dark-skinned, blonde, blue-eyed woman — her maternal grandfather had been a Marine rifleman from Nevada — was also an alumnus of Salem; she had been a year ahead of Huram. As both gazed into the other woman's eyes, a Legilimency link formed. «Is she alright, Huram?» Malfirz wondered.

«She'll be okay,» Huram answered. «Get everyone in the Seraglio together at Selim's in a half-hour.» That was a family-owned restaurant and lounge at the west end of Valide Street that often served as the unofficial community hall for the Seraglio's escorts and street workers. It was also the place where more shy patrons would go to so they could meet up with the brothel madames in lieu of trying to brave the Seraglio and all the beautiful women there on their own. «Tirtha's got something incredible she wants to tell us…and she's got an offer for us to permanently deal with Ganda Gan.»

Mentally hearing THAT made Malfirz gape before she smirked, nodding.

Anything that could get rid of HIM was always welcome in the Seraglio…

* * *

The Royal Hospital, that moment…

"We must insist on this, Surya!"

Surya Patha took a deep breath. "Do you wish to bring the wrath of the _**Destroyer of Kyōto**_ down on all our heads?!" she demanded as she spun around to glare on the half-dozen elderly men who had descended on her just as she had arrived at the hospital to look in on Kaolla Su. "You all went to proper wizarding schools, didn't you?! Didn't you learn a damned THING about what the Lady Taeko did in 1603?!"

The men gargled in horror as her incensed look raked over them. It was with good reason, of course. To win election as the Royal Wizard, Surya had to engage in a series of challenges whose level of difficulty and danger rivalled if not excelled what was often forced on participants in various inter-school competitions such as the famous Triwizard Tournament held infrequently between Hogwarts, Beauxbâtons and Drumstrang. Much to the private despair of the elders who dominated politics in the Royal Parliament at that time, the veteran of Tsukuyomi's War of Liberation breezed through those tests with flying colours. Ever since, those self-same elders — and their successors such as Anda Gan; he was currently leading the group the Royal Wizard was now confronting — had been butting heads with Surya about a whole host of issues that struck her as idiotically mundane…though part of her had often suspected there were more misogynist reasons for them to press such matters with her. Despite the sectarian nature of Molmolite society, it was the law that members of the Royal Parliament had to be learned scholars in both the al-Qur'ān and the a-Ḥadīth attributed to the Prophet — _May Allāh honour him and grant him peace_, she automatically intoned in her mind on thinking of that incredible man who had brought the enlightenment of the Faith to the Arabic Peninsula in the Seventh Century — before they were nominated to serve on the Council of Elders that acted as the upper house of the Royal Parliament; though the government of Molmol didn't impose any form of Šarī'ah on its people, there were those in the country who would gladly welcome such a change in this land.

Several of those people were in front of her right now.

"And allow us to look weak in front of the foreigners?!" Anda snarled.

Surya tried not to groan. _Hypocrite!_ she mentally sneered. "So you wish to ALSO bring down the wrath of the Earth Angel and the reborn Xiàolíng Emperor of Hàn on us?!"

That made them jolt. "What about them?!" one of Anda's friends demanded.

"Didn't you see the damage done to the Palace yesterday morning?!" the Royal Wizard asked. "That all wasn't the Lady Taeko's doing! The Lady Negako — a being even my former mistress fears and respects — was there as well to deliver the warning that all of the Urashima Clan of Hinata are now under her clan's personal protection! And I've learned through my former mistress that the Lady Negako's adopted sister Hiromi is the reborn Xiàolíng Emperor of Hàn!" She smirked as the elders' faces turned pale on hearing that revelation. "We all know the prophecies that have often been spoken about concerning a possible resurrection of the Xiàolíng, don't we?!" she teased. "Or have you also forgotten the fact that there are at least _ten thousand_ reborn warriors of China's Three Kingdoms period now alive and active in the Kantō region of Japan as we speak?" She smirked. "We've all heard stories about the _**tōshi**_, haven't we?"

The elders — who hadn't noticed a crowd of people gathering nearby to listen in on this confrontation between themselves and the rejuvenated Royal Wizard — shuddered. "Then we're under threat!" Anda declared. "We have to defend ourselves!"

"Under threat from what?" Surya asked. "As was said by the Rail-Splitter himself when he first took the oath of office as the President of the United States, 'You can have no conflict without being _yourselves_ the aggressors.' Remember what he said years ago when he came here — on his own vocation, by the way! — to remove those vampires who had inserted themselves in our society when we asked him for advice on winning recognition of our independence from Washington and elsewhere?" She leaned up to glare intently into Anda's eyes. "Didn't Mister Lincoln SAVE your daughter-in-law from being turned, Anda? When she was PREGNANT with Leida atop that?! Didn't he discover that poor Darla was targeted because Leida had such huge potential for magic and potentially could have become a Slayer if the right magical keys were in place?! What does it say about YOU, sir, when you allow YOUR worthless, wounded pride to influence decisions that affect so many?!" She turned to head off down the corridor so she could attend to the wounded Kaolla Su. "I will report this to the King, of course," she then warned.

All of the elders awked in shock — even if the Kingdom of Molmol was evolving towards a form of constitutional monarchy like what existed in the United Kingdom, the monarch had the right and duty to dissolve the Royal Parliament if he felt its members were acting against the better interests of the people — on hearing that threat before they jolted on hearing derisive laughter from nearby. On noting how much of a crowd had gathered to watch them be verbally smacked down by Surya Patha, they retreated in disorder from the Royal Hospital as a grinning Agni Yajna came over to join the Royal Wizard. "It's about time someone faced down those old farts and made them see what their idiot pride was leading the country towards!" the senior normal doctor mused as he escorted her towards Kaolla's current guest suite. "Much that I myself might have agreed with them when it came to the Lady Taeko, that the Lady Negako is now involved in this is enough to make anyone with a lick of common sense in their heads pause and think." He gazed at her. "Then again, given that Elder Anda's granddaughter was kidnapped by the Lady Taeko yesterday morning, he does have cause to be angry, Mistress."

"She wasn't kidnapped, Agni."

Surprise crossed his face. "Eh?!"

"Young Leida overheard her father and uncle discuss the possibility of mustering the Royal Magical Army for an attack on the Hinata House. The Lady Taeko allowed her to stay at the Hinata House for her safety in case Panda decided to punish her for ruining his quest for 'vengeance' against what Lady Taeko did to the Princess," Surya explained. "You may not know this, but using the Magical Royal Army THAT way would be seen as _casus belli_ in the halls of the International Conference of Magical Communities. After they were wiped out by the Lady Taeko and her friends — which, by the way, would include Mistress Tsukiko and the Lady Negako, not to mention the Lady Hiromi and all the tōshi — we would be invaded in turn. You've seen the pictures of the Type One starships those two bright young inventors created on CNN, the BBC and NHK, didn't you?" At his nod, she asked, "Did you know Ki Tsukihana and Hakaru Ayami are both tōshi themselves?"

He gaped. "They are?!"

"Yes. Tsukihana was Zhūgě Liàng's wife Huáng Yuèyīng in his first life, while Ayami was Cáo Cāo's first strategist Xún Yù. I know that both Zhūgě and Cáo both live again in this life. The former is Morokuzu Ryōko, a shrine maiden and Grade Seven student attending Seito Middle School in Chichibu, which is right next door to the high school of the same name. The latter is Tsukasa Torusuke, the student council president at the Kyoshō Academy, which is actually not too far from the Hinata House in Kanagawa. Both Seito and Kyoshō are two of the top four of the Seven Battle Schools of Kantō; where they march, the others would gladly follow. Atop that, the Ten Attendants of the Xiàolíng are also alive and well; all of them — who are all arch-mage sorceresses whose research work is eagerly read by magicals on Earth and Nerio — are seen as elder stateswomen in the eyes of younger tōshi. All the Lady Hiromi has to do…"

"Is summon them to wherever her spiritual court is, then they would muster all the tōshi together," a pale Agni finished for the older woman. "_**Ten thousand**_ warriors…?!" he asked before shaking his head in horror. "Allāh…!"

"That's why it's best to keep the peace between us and the Lady Taeko," Surya stated as she paused before the closed door of Kaolla's bedroom. "Besides, in the Lady Taeko's eyes, the Princess is guilty of multiple accounts of assault with deadly force against Master Keitarō." As the doctor croaked in shock on hearing that, the Royal Wizard raised her hand to cut his protest off. "Yes, the Princess never meant to hurt the man, but he obviously perceives it much differently; do you think the Lady Taeko would have evicted the Princess from the Hinata House if Master Keitarō wanted her to stay?"

Agni blinked several times. "Then why didn't he…?"

"At the time, he legally couldn't do anything against any of the tenants of the Hinata House thanks to his grandmother going behind his back and enforcing a clause against him that blocked him from doing just that," Surya answered. "I've been told that's now been changed. Atop that, given the atrocious behaviour of two of the other tenants there — which set an awful example for the Princess — when it came to the man, I doubt he could have done anything against her without Narusegawa Naru and Aoyama Motoko trying to kill him in response. That would have given the police in Hinata City the excuse they needed to arrest them all, then expel the Princess from Japan right then and there."

"Allāh…!"

Surya nodded. "I've railed against this stupid attitude people have had when it comes to outsiders and our interacting with them again and again over the years," she said before breathing out, "It's no wonder all our neighbours accepted the Avalonians' offer to put up those anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards around their territory."

"Eh?!" Agni gasped. "You mean it was the Space Angels that did that?!"

"Of course! The Avalonians on Pararakelse, Tarawa, Nauru, Majuro and elsewhere all see themselves as adopted natives of those islands." Surya squeezed the other man's hand in reassurance. "What better way to make new friends and win allies in government than to aid them in their common defence? We've all seen news broadcasts from those places where government officials have railed again and again about our officials acting like complete barbarians when they've gone over to deliver the King's decrees to them, haven't we?" At his reluctant nod, she shrugged. "Like it or not, Agni, we have to accept the fact that our neighbours' patience with us has come to a final end and that they don't intend to allow us any sort of leeway anymore."

"Still…"

"Never mind," she urged. "Look, you have patients to worry about and I need to spend some time with the Princess. Go on back to work. If I can keep the peace between ourselves and the Lady Taeko, all the better for us in the long term."

The doctor considered that before he nodded and headed back to the main reception area. Surya watched him before she looked at the hand she used to touch him…not to mention subtly manipulate his mind — thanks to training in the use of her new abilities from Tirtha during their times together over the last couple of days; on thinking of those times in the younger woman's arms making mad, passionate love to her, the Royal Wizard felt her knees weaken as a special heat flooded her from her groin — to make him not reflect on the revelation about Avalonian assistance when it came to shielding the neighbouring islands from intrusion by natives of Molmol. From what she sensed from Anda Gan and the other elders minutes before, they — and whoever else were supporting their drive to press a battle with the Destroyer of Kyōto — were blindly groping for any excuse to lash out at anyone in some mad hope of asserting their place of primacy in the hierarchy of things in Molmol, which would do no one any real good in the end.

When she went on her yearly Ḥaǧǧ to Makkah — which, as a magical, she could do with ease thanks to international portkeys — to honour her obligations to her faith, Surya always met with officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other Muslim countries to keep up to date with events in the normal world that affected those of the Faithful in those distant lands. While the governments in ar-Riyāḍ, Ankara and elsewhere hadn't formally recognized Molmol as an independent nation — pressure from Washington prevented that — the brotherhood and sisterhood bestowed to all of Islam ensured that Molmolites who considered themselves of the Faithful would always be welcome with open arms elsewhere.

Because of that, Surya had noted a slowly-growing trend over the last couple of decades that had come to badly affect Muslims elsewhere in the world and might soon come to Molmol: The desire to create special madāris that could — with the right sort of teachers — ensure the spread of the ultra-conservative form of Wahhabism that was perceived by many around the world as the true birthplace of radical movements such as al-Qā'idah. Given Washington's understandable determination to ensure no repeat of 9/11 struck their shores again, any such potential outcropping of "jihadism" in Molmol — which sat right in the centre of America's perceived backyard — could invite terrible retaliation if the right set of circumstances all came into play. Even more so, such a reaction would be exacerbated by the fact that the leaders of the United States viewed Molmol as a breakaway district of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and not an independent kingdom! And while China would certainly object to any military action taken against Molmol, it was only ONE voice on the United Nations Security Council even if it had veto power; there was no guarantee that Russia would come to China's aid in such a case and Britain and France were guaranteed to join America if the latter power sought to expunge any potential threat to its territory or people from Molmol.

And if the ebony meson in the Kasi Mountains was factored to it…!

Shaking her head, Surya opened the door to look into Kaolla's bedroom…before her jaw dropped in shock. "Oh, my heavens!" she gasped as she walked inside, closing the door behind her. "What are you doing here?!"

A delighted chuckle escaped Dabūrāh bint-Nūḥ al-Ǧubayl as she walked over — stepping gingerly around the feet of two of Kaolla's gynoid replicas as she did so — to gently embrace her beloved friend. On touching the Saudi sorceress who currently served as the Deputy Minister of Magical Affairs, Surya gasped as she felt a VERY familiar empathic wave surge up from that contact. As she backed away from the other woman to stare wide-eyed at her — Dabūrāh was a peer of Surya's — the visitor from ar-Riyāḍ smirked as she waved her hand over her face. Once the intricate glamour spell that had masked her true teenage-like looks from others was removed, Dabūrāh — who now looked as if she had just graduated from the Ṭūr Sīnā' Academy on Jazīrat Tīrān at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba between Egypt and Saudi Arabia; Ṭūr Sīnā' was the primary magical school in the Middle East — grinned. "So how do I look, sister?" she coyly teased, her dark brown eyes sparkling.

"Oh, you!" Surya snarled before she grabbed the other woman by the shoulders and delivered a tongue-filled kiss. As Dabūrāh purred in near-orgasmic delight at that contact, the Royal Wizard blinked as she sensed images flash before her mind's eye. She then pulled away before shaking her head. "Allāh! Please don't tell me those monsters…!"

"No, they didn't," the visiting sorceress assured as she turned to walk over to gaze on the sleeping Kaolla. Whispering a prayer in Arabic as she waved a hand over the bruised princess' face, Dabūrāh stated, "They didn't need to. They had Avalonian-Saudis — including my new chief assistant, Majdalā bint-'Ibrāhīm al-Waqi' — that could penetrate into Makkah itself once they fully converted over. And while the vulgar monster who was poor Majda's master didn't care one damned bit for our 'primitive, backward cult'…" — she gritted her teeth in outrage on remembering that vile creature's words towards Islam when he had been dragged out of his apartment in the capital city of Saudi Arabia by four burly Noukiite Imperial Marines, all of whom appeared ready to execute the infidel right then and there — "…Majda herself is devout; she couldn't have gone to Ṭūr Sīnā' for her magical studies or work in the government without being truly one of the Faithful deep in her heart."

"How did Majda get her magic?!"

"I personally think the al-Jinn had something to do with it…but don't quote me on that!" As the Royal Wizard giggled, Dabūrāh added, "Turns out that of the two hundred Avalonian-Saudis in country, 142 of them went to Ṭūr Sīnā'."

"Which should make things a lot easier for them given their bisexuality and their need to touch other people," Surya noted. Normal Saudi women were always forced to wear the all-encompassing ḥijāb with niqāb when out in public thanks to both old tribal traditions and the domination of conservative religious thought that balked against ANYTHING that smacked of Western feminist liberalism. Atop that, a woman in the country ALWAYS needed a male relative to escort her anywhere she went to ensure that non-related males couldn't take advantage of her. Magical Saudi women — as Dabūrāh now displayed thanks to the headscarf covering her wavy sandy blonde-brown hair and more revealing clothes that kept her arms and mid-rift bare — did not see themselves bound to such restrictions.

Gazing on the gorgeous woman now visiting the wounded princess, Surya could only smirk as she remembered what Dabūrāh had done before she became a government official. The Islamic religious police in Saudi Arabia — usually when they learned through relatives invited to Ṭūr Sīnā' of the magical world — always found the laissez-faire attitudes towards things like dress and inter-gender relations practised in various enclaves horrifying, demanding immediate rectification. Fortunately for the "heretics" who seemed to spit on everything that was decent and proper in normal Saudi society, the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy — which Saudi Arabia was bound to thanks to the Ottomans that had ruled parts of the country (including Makkah) when the Statute was made law in 1692 — _**always**_ ensured that when the "defenders of righteousness" charged into those enclaves to make things "proper," obliviation was the order of the day. Before she had become an official in the Ministry of Magical Affairs, Dabūrāh al-Ǧubayl had been one of the most well-skilled enforcers of the Statute employed by the Department of Magical Security Protection and Preservation.

"How did the non-magical Avalonians get around the need to have escorts with them whenever they went from place to place?" Surya then asked.

"Androids," Dabūrāh answered. "Built on a planet named Zeiwan and programmed to act as those poor girls' husbands in public." She then snickered. "Ironically, all of those boys were sex-robots with the same type of loyalty lock system that girls like Majda were enslaved to…and they were always keyed to their Avalonian 'wives.'" As Surya scowled on hearing that, the visitor from Saudi Arabia smirked. "When the infidels from Phentax Two learned the Noukiites were coming, they tried to get the androids to stay close to defend them…only to discover that the androids wouldn't leave their 'wives!'" As Surya laughed, the visitor from ar-Riyāḍ added, "A pity that the factory can only create female bioroids. I've met some of those androids; they're as human as you or I!"

"They won't be hurt, will they?"

"Thanks to the Roswell Agreement, alien matters automatically fall under the purview of the Men In Black, even when it comes to a mixed normal-magical situation," the other woman noted. "If necessary, we can move them into the enclaves to keep them away from idiot scientists who'd like to dismantle them to learn their secrets. They can be modified with meson-based shielding to protect them from all the ambient magic that plays havoc with technology."

The other woman nodded. "That's good. Have you heard how soon the King will allow potential migrants to come down from space? I know one of the Type One ships was named the _Āl Su'ūd_."

Dabūrāh laughed. "The King's not an idiot, Surya. He knows that if he allows such a chance to pass by, the normals in the Kingdom will be left in the dust. Especially given that the Avalonians have technologies that could make the world's dependency on oil a thing of the past." She held up a finger in emphasis. "But — strange as this will sound to you — there are MANY of Majda's sisters who WANT to migrate to Saudi Arabia!"

Surya's jaw dropped. "Really?! Why?!"

"Crown Prince Muḥammad went up on Friday to visit one of those space stations in orbit over Earth. Don't ask me which one it was, though; I hope to Allāh that they'll start using names for those places instead of numbers." As Surya smirked, the other woman added, "Majda and the Elder Mother of ar-Riyāḍ escorted him there to show him around. He got to met with several women who represent groups of Avalonians who had been modelled on Bedouin maidens." Here, Dabūrāh scowled. "It turns out that many of those girls were raped again and again by their former masters in some mad replay of all the stories in _One Thousand and One Nights_." As Surya shook her head in horrid sympathy, the other woman added, "When he got the chance to mind-meld with one of them, the Crown Prince was so enraged, he vowed to convince the King to do all that was possible to make those poor girls feel fully welcome in Saudi Arabia…even if it means finally putting the radical 'ulamā' into their place once and for all."

"How could that be done?"

"As things are being proposed right now, _**all**_ members of any family that might want to adopt any of those poor girls will be subjected to deep telepathic and Legilimency probes to ensure they won't add on to the misery those girls have already endured." As Surya nodded — even if many in the West viewed Saudi attitudes towards women as backward, the laws and traditions that ruled the desert kingdom were geared towards preserving a woman's personal dignity and honour; once Saudi men got a taste of what their future countrywomen from the stars had endured, they would move Heaven and Earth to ensure those women would be safe and happy — Dabūrāh added, "Atop that, there are many male hybrid children — lots of them having been born from such poor girls — who could serve as escorts for them when they are in public until the laws finally change. I think this will be a good development in the long term."

"So what do Majda's master and his friends think of all this? Do you know?"

A snort escaped the Saudi sorceress. "Even if they're chained down on that prison ship up in orbit, the Noukiites are keeping them appraised on everything our people are doing to make the Avalonians feel right at home here on Earth. According to the Marines on the ground I've talked to, they don't like it."

"I hope the Noukiites have something special planned for monsters like that."

"Oh, they do! They do!" Dabūrāh said as a savage smile crossed her tattooed face. The runes etched into her skin around her eyes, on her cheeks and along her arms and legs — some of which were now glowing in echo of the storm of feelings ripping through her at what she had learned about what people like Majdalā al-Waqi' had endured over the last decade and more — made her one of the most dangerous magicals alive since it allowed her to tap into the power of the al-Jinn themselves. That such were able to be transmitted from her original Terran body to her new Avalonian one was clearly a sign from Allāh Himself in Surya's eyes that He approved of the open-arms policy the Faithful worldwide had initiated to welcome their Avalonian sisters amongst them. "If you haven't heard already, the Noukiites are monotheists, as are their Zephyrite friends who provide the special telepathic interrogators to the Imperial Marines. The idea of someone spitting upon those who passionately worship the Lord of Heaven — as they call Allāh — so offended the colonel in command of the battalion that came down to clean out the alien infidels from the Kingdom and our neighbours that he offered to personally execute the monsters — Majda's former master wasn't alone in his attitudes when it came to Islam — in the market square in ar-Riyāḍ in lieu of bothering the magistrates on Tengsei about such creatures." She smirked. "Regretfully, His Majesty had to decline such a kind and polite offer. I pray the good wardens on Hichkyech'eng won't be offended."

"Did they…hurt the…Ka'bah…?"

Both women tensed on hearing that pained question before Surya moved to put herself on the other side of Kaolla's bed. "We're sorry, sweetie!" she soothed as the young princess' eyes fluttered open. "We didn't mean to wake you up. Are you thirsty?"

A moan answered her. "I'm okay…hey…what happened…?"

"Well, Tirtha decided she didn't like me being hurt by the black rocks in the Kasi Mountains, so she gave me a new body to use," Surya explained. "Just like Dabūrāh's young assistant Majdalā did for her, too. Look at her, Kaolla."

Kaolla slowly looked over before her eyes widened. "Wow…!"

Dabūrāh smiled. "Yes, Majda did that for me," she said before reaching over to gently rub Kaolla's cheek, which made the princess giggle. "And don't you worry about the al-Ka'bah. Those good warriors from Noukiios made sure the meanies who hurt Majda and all her sisters in Saudi Arabia and our neighbours never got close to the al-Ka'bah. Even if they're not Muslim, the warriors of Noukiios and their brothers and sisters from Zephyrus are all our brothers and sisters in faith, young princess."

A weak nod acknowledged that before Kaolla painfully looked around the room. "Where's Miss…Tirtha…?" she weakly asked.

"She's visiting friends here in town, Kaolla," Surya answered. "She'll be by later today to come see you. After all, you're going back to the Hinata House tomorrow."

That made Kaolla's eyes widen. "Really…?"

"Yes," the Royal Wizard assured her. "Lady Taeko is willing to let you come back…even if she is still mad at you for playing so roughly with her brother." As Kaolla tensed on hearing that, Surya smiled. "Even more so, Leida's in Japan now. You'll be able to play with her once we get you all healed up tomorrow morning, alright?"

Tears appeared in the younger girl's eyes. "Leida…I…missed her…"

"I know you did. And she missed you, too. You'll see her tomorrow," Surya assured her. "Right now, you need to go to sleep. Miss Dabūrāh and I'll be outside."

"Uhn…"

A whispered spell later, the rejuvenated Molmolite witch took a deep breath as Kaolla drifted once more into the land of Morpheus. "She was really worked over," Dabūrāh noted as she used her mage sight to scan the extent of the princess' wounds.

"The man who did this was someone who actually cared for his charges, especially the one he saw as an adopted sister," Surya quietly explained. "As he saw it, his sister had a crush on Kaolla's old landlord; he's the Lady Urashima Taeko's adopted brother. Since he saw Kaolla and some others at the Hinata House as potential threats to his sister's future happiness, he resolved to hurt them badly before he would allow the Noukiites to kill him so he wouldn't be mentally transformed into an apostate."

That made the visitor from ar-Riyāḍ scowl. "He deserves it."

Surya nodded. "That he does."

* * *

Tōkyō, north of Ueno Park in Taitō Ward, that moment…

"So what do you sense, Taeko-sama?"

Urashima Taeko took a deep breath as she gazed intently at the beautiful, aged mansion located on a side street off the Katatai-dōri that looped around the north end of Ueno Park. "This was once part of a Buddhist temple complex," she warned.

"That's right," Hinomura Yō affirmed with a nod. He and Baahk Ngàhsin had been driven here thanks to a large caravan rented for the occasion by Wòhng Dākyùhn; the vehicle was parked about a half-block from the front gate of the Hino home. "This whole area was once part of the grounds of the Tōeizan Kan'ei-ji Endon-in; that five-story pagoda that's in the west end of the park is just one small part of all that's left of the original temple."

"Could that be the reason Emu was able to hide from the Niphentaxians?" Ngàhsin asked.

"Possibly," the tokkaebi-turned-sorceress mused.

"Can you sense her, Lady Taeko?" Dākyùhn asked.

A nod answered him. "Ne. She's waiting for you, Yō-ssi."

Hearing that, the man known throughout the underworld as Crying Freeman nodded. "If you feel it necessary, Freeman, use a combat knife," Dākyùhn warned.

"It won't be necessary."

Both Dākyùhn and Ngàhsin gazed on Taeko, who had an amused look on her face. Yō also looked at the new landlady of the Hinata-sō before nodding. Opening the side door, he got out and looked around. The street was relatively quiet though there were people visible in the near distance in both directions. While he would have preferred to come at night to mask his entrance into the Hino home, Yō knew this was no ordinary situation where he would have to kill someone to ensure their silence. Given that Ngàhsin and her friends — the "Pure Girls" as they were known as a group to others in the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì as a nod to their leader's family name — had already detected that Hino Emu was an Avalonian, the potential conflict between the heirs of the 108 Dragons of the Shàolín Temple and the heirs of the Ten Harmonious Houses who serve the Son of Heaven was great and had to be avoided if at all possible.

Still…

Emu WANTED Yō to kill her!

What did that mean…?

Taking a breath, the potter-turned-assassin walked down the street towards the front gate. He now knew quite a bit about the beautiful artist he had met a month before in Hong Kong. Hino Emu was the only child of the late Dietman Hino Shinnosuke, the former representative for Metro Tōkyō District Two, a stalwart of the Liberal Democratic Party who had been one of the many protégés of the long-retired Secretary-General Isaoka Norimoto; Emu's mother Miko had died when the former had been in middle school. She had graduated from the Tōkyō University of the Arts here in Taitō at the head of her class, then became a professional painter. She hadn't any known potential suitors; no doubt, given her father's influence in politics, those who might want to seek her hand in marriage had been scared off. She did have some female friends, all Geidai alumni who were also making it big in their chosen fields of specialization.

In the end, she was as normal a woman as one might be…

…which would make Emu a perfect candidate to be replaced by an Avalonian clone.

Or even worse, have HERSELF subjected to a body-swap, then enslaved!

But if that was true…

_What on Earth was going on here?!_

Reaching the main gate, Yō noted it was locked. Knowing that sneaking his way onto the property in the middle of the day was not the wisest thing to do, he reached up to ring the bell…just as the doors unlocked and swung open.

«Come in, Yō-san.»

He gasped on hearing that demure voice echo inside his head. Realizing he couldn't flee this now, he squared his shoulders and walked inside…

* * *

"She's letting him in!" Dākyùhn hissed.

"Naturally."

Both he and Ngàhsin gaped at Taeko. "Why, Lady Taeko?!" the latter asked.

The tokkaebi-turned-sorceress smiled as she gazed on the larger woman. "A true dragon needs a phoenix for a wife, Ngàhsin-ssi," she stated before gazing once more towards the Hino home. "Or in this particular case, a _tigress_!"

That made the two natives of Hong Kong gape…

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) _Yatsura_ character and place notes:

**Gekasawa Kumiko** and **Marubeya Momoe** (their family names are my invention) are both minor characters from the manga. They both first appeared in the manga story "Even Though I Wait For You" (manga episode #27). Both girls were voted as two of the prettiest girls in their class, with Miyake Shinobu following in third place.

**Okonomiyaki Nihon** was mentioned in the manga story "Food Fight" (manga episode #106).

**Sedoyama Keizō** (the given name is my creation) is the large fellow who appeared to help force Moroboshi Ataru to bend to the Stormtroopers' will in both the anime episode "It's Raining Oil All Over Town" (anime episode #1-2) and the first movie _Only You_.

And the phrase "living circus" used to describe life in Tomobiki by Shinobu first appeared in the third movie, _Remember My Love_.

2) **Rose Potter** and those of her friends mentioned in the narrative here first appeared in my _Icemaidens_ series of _Harry Potter_ fanfic stories. Their situation in the universe of this story is further elaborated on in _Wizards and Avalonians_. That story also reveals the reason why those magicals taught at the **Meridiana Magic Academy** (from _Mahō Sensei Negima_) do NOT fall under the jurisdiction of Her Majesty's Ministry of Magic.

3) The term **Los Gringos Estúpidos** used by Tirtha here literally means "the stupid foreigners." The actual word _gringo_ is a slang term originating in Spain; it was initially applied to non-native foreign speakers of Spanish. Eventually, the term was brought over to the New World and came to be used both in Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking areas of Latin America to denote either a foreigner — usually from the United States — or to a native of Latin America or something from that part of the world which possesses a strong association or has been assimilated into foreign (particularly Anglo-American) society and culture. The term itself is not necessarily a bad word; it's a slang term which can be seen as derogatory only in its use and context.

4) In writing Arabic terms and names in my stories, I do my best to use a standard scholarly form of Romanization, which includes various diacritical marks over vowels and consonants to imply special sounds that would be quite different than what would be perceived as normal in English. To that end — and to ensure no confusion over what the words actually mean — here is a list of the terms mentioned here and their meanings: **al-Qur'ān** — Literally "The Recitation," this is the central religious text of Islam; **a-Ḥadīth** — A saying, act or tacit approval/disapproval ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Prophet Muḥammad (these are normally used to help better interpret what is written in the al-Qur'ān and in matters of jurisprudence); **Šarī'ah** — Literally "legislation" and commonly Romanized as "Sharia," this is the moral code and religious law if Islam, covering many topics that are normally addressed elsewhere as part of secular law (including crime, politics, economics, sexual intercourse, hygiene, diet, prayer and fasting); **ar-Riyāḍ** — Commonly Romanized as "Riyadh," this is the capital city of Saudi Arabia, located in the central eastern part of the kingdom; **Dabūrāh** — Arabic way of saying "Deborah"; **Bint-(name)** — Literally meaning "daughter of (name)," this forms the patronymic element of a person's name in Arabic culture; **Nūḥ** — Arabic way of saying "Noah"; **'Ibrāhīm** — Arabic way of saying "Abraham"; **Majdalā** — Arabic way of saying "Magdalene"; **al-Jinn** — Plural form of _al-jinnī_ (genie); **Ḥijāb** — Seen as possessing the wider meaning of "modesty," "privacy" and "morality," this is the traditional veil covering the head and neck (the term can also be applied to those other items of clothing that cover the rest of the body); **Niqāb** — The cloth that is worn to mask a person's face; **'Ulamā'** — Educated scholars and the acknowledged experts in all matters pertaining to Šarī'ah.

As an aside, here are some special notes concerning specific terms and concepts mentioned here:

The **Ḥaǧǧ** (commonly Romanized as "Hajj") is a pilgrimage to the holy city of **Makkah** (Mecca) in western Saudi Arabia close to the Red Sea coast. This particular religious journey — which MUST be done at least ONCE in one's lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so — is one of the largest annual migrations of humanity in the world. The Ḥaǧǧ is seen as one of the **Five Pillars of Islam** (_Arkān al-Islām_), the five basic acts of the faith which are considered obligatory for all believers. As part of the Ḥaǧǧ, pilgrims visit the **Al-Masjid Al-Ḥarām** ("The Sacred Mosque") and perform the **ṭawāf**, which is a walk around the **al-Ka'bah** located in the centre of the mosque's grounds. The al-Ka'bah (which literally means "The Cube" and is commonly Romanized as "Kaaba") — which is also called the **Baytu l-Ḥarām** ("The Sacred House") — is the most sacred site in Islam, said to be the first place or worship to Allāh built by humanity…and that it had been reconstructed by none other than the Hebrew patriarch **Abraham** (_'Ibrāhīm_) himself, who is seen in Islamic tradition as a prophet of Allāh, patriarch of his people and the archetype of the perfect Muslim.

It should be noted that because of the al-Ka'bah's importance in Islam, those who undergo the Ḥaǧǧ must perform the ṭawāf **_seven times_** around the Sacred House. Also, when Muslims perform **ṣalāh** — the proper acts of formal worship; this is another of the Five Pillars — as a sign of their devotion to the Faith, they always face the **qibla** ("direction") of the al-Ka'bah…no matter where they are. If done inside a mosque, those who perform ṣalāh are guided by a **miḥrāb**, which is a semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque.

The term **Madāris** is the plural form of **Madrasah** (commonly Romanized as "Madrasa" and literally meaning "school"), which is the Arabic term for any sort of educational institution. However, thanks to the rise of what is often called "Islamic fundamentalism" over recent years — especially in the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington by al-Qā'idah — the term "madrasah" is seen by many in the West to ONLY mean special religious schools that teach a form of radical revivalism, anti-Americanism and radical extremism, all frequently associated in the Western press with ultra-conservative attitudes toward non-Muslims. And while such schools DO exist in the Islamic world, it is fundamentally wrong to view ALL madāris in the same light.

Going along with that is the concept of **Ǧihād** (commonly Romanized as "Jihad") and what it ultimately means in Islam. The word itself means "struggle" and is properly perceived as the struggle Muslims must undergo every day of their lives to adhere to their faith. In classical times, this meant that those who believed in Islam had to fight to protect themselves from those who wanted it stamped out by whatever means possible. It is from this that the conception of ǧihād meaning "holy war" grew…which hasn't been helped at all because of the actions of al-Qā'idah and other such groups in recent years; hence, the rise of the term **jihadism** in the English language. A wonderful anecdote of the Prophet Muḥammad I learned about years ago always impressed me when it comes to what the concept of ǧihād truthfully means; when he was returning back from a battle, the Prophet said something along the lines of "_Now we have returned from the _**lesser**_ ǧihād to face the _**greater**_ ǧihād_." In other words, the Prophet personally believed — and I should state that since I myself am not a Muslim, I could be totally in error here — that the GREATER struggle in life was NOT to go kill one's enemies in defence of the Faith…but to always struggle with one's inner DUTY to the Faith for one's ultimate peace of mind and soul.

**Wahhabism**, as noted above, is an ultra-conservative branch of Islam that pushes all its followers to return back to the simpler times in strict adherence of the fundamental sources of both the al-Qur'ān and the a-Ḥadīth. This particular movement began as a form of revivalist Islam thanks to its founder and namesake, **Muḥammad ibn-Abd al-Wahhab** (1703-92), who was a scholar that — in alliance with his contemporary **Muḥammad bin-Su'ūd** (unknown date of birth, died 1765), then the emir of ad-Dir'iyah near modern-day ar-Riyāḍ — helped establish the nucleus of modern-day Saudi Arabia in 1744. Because of that, Wahhabism is seen as the dominant form of Islam in the kingdom.

**Ṭūr Sīnā'** is the Arabic name for **Mount Sinai**, which was where **Moses** was said to have received the Ten Commandments from God. As Moses was seen as an ancestor of Abraham, his story and the story of the Exodus from Egypt is mentioned several times in the al-Qur'ān. The name is applied these days to a mountain in the southern part of the peninsula of the same name in Egypt, which rises 2,285 metres above sea level. However, some scholars claim that the Biblical Mount Sinai is actually a mountain in Saudi Arabia named **Jabal al-Lawz** (literally "mountain of almonds"), which rises 2,580 metres about fifty kilometres south of the border with Jordan and forty kilometres east of the Gulf of Aqaba which separates the kingdom from the Sinai Peninsula.

As an aside, the site of the **Ṭūr Sīnā' Academy of Magic**, as noted above, is on **Jazīrat Tīrān** ("Tīrān Island"), which is at the southern end of the Gulf of Aqaba where it empties into the Red Sea. This is believed to be the place where the fleeing Israelites crossed the Red Sea to escape slavery in Egypt. These days, Jazīrat Tīrān — claimed by both Egypt and Saudi Arabia — is seen as part of the **Rās Maḥammad National Park** at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, even if the island itself is currently occupied ONLY by Egyptian military personnel and peacekeepers of the **Multinational Force and Observers** (**MFO**) which oversee the implementation of the 1978 Camp David Accords that eventually allowed final peace to exist between Israel and Egypt. Because of the 1967-82 occupation of the island by Israel, many of the beaches on Jazīrat Tīrān are mined.

5) The "Rail-Splitter" mentioned by Surya here is none other than **Abraham Lincoln** from Seth Grahame-Smith's 2010 book _Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter_ (ISBN 978-0-446-56308-6); how his story factors into the universe of this series and what exactly happened to him after his assassination in 1865 will be described in an upcoming part of _Wizards and Avalonians_.

And yes, the **Slayers** mentioned by Surya are the same girls from the television series _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ that was broadcast from 1997-2003.

6) _Ikkitōsen_ character note: Ki Tsukihana's would-be girlfriend **Shokatsuryō Kōmei** (**Morokuzu Ryōko**) was first introduced at the end of manga episode #46. Her background story is better described in the writer's notes to Part 2 of _Phoenix From the Ashes_.

7) The future Saudi starship _Āl Su'ūd_ was named after the **House of Su'ūd** (normally Romanized as "House of Saud"), the founding royal family of the modern kingdom.

8) _One Thousand and One Nights_ (in Arabic, _Kitāb Alf Laylah wa-Laylah_) is a collection of West and South Asian stories and folk tales compiled in Arabic during the **Golden Age** between the Eighth and Thirteenth Centuries. This collection of stories is known more popularly in English as the _Arabian Nights_ from the first translation of these stories published in 1706. Among the stories that went into _One Thousand and One Nights_ include well-known tales like the adventures of **'Alā' ad-Dīn** ("Aladdin"), the story of **'Alī Bābā** and the **Forty Thieves** and the seven voyages of **as-Sindibād al-Baḥri** ("Sinbad the Sailor").

9) **Tōeizan Kan'ei-ji Endon-in** is a Buddhist temple first built in 1625 during the **Kan'ei Era** (1624-43). The name _Kan'ei_ is a contraction of a phrase that meant "Broad Leniency, Eternal Leader." Kan'ei-ji was established by the **Tendai** school, which is a descendant discipline of the famous **Lotus Sutra** school that was founded in Japan in 805. Most of the original temple structures were destroyed in the **Great Fire of Meireki** on 2 March 1657, though the main hall was replaced in 1698. The majority of the temple was destroyed anew in the **Battle of Ueno** fought on 4 July 1868 and was never replaced; much of the temple's land was seized in the wake of that fight and transformed into modern Ueno Park. All that remains of the pre-1868 structures is a five-story pagoda, a Shintō shrine called **Tōshō-gū** and the **Benten-dō** temple dedicated to the goddess of luck (and inspiration to the _Urusei Yatsura_ character of the same name) located on a small island in the middle of **Shinobazu Pond** at the park's southern end.

10) **Metro Tōkyō District Two** covers the city wards of Taitō, Bunkyō and Chūō.

11) **Tōkyō University of the Arts** (_Tōkyō Geijutsu Daigaku_, normally shortened to **Geidai**) is one of the oldest arts schools in Japan. It was founded in 1949 by the merger of the Tōkyō School of Fine Arts and the Tōkyō Music School, both of which were founded originally in 1887. It is located at the north end of Ueno Park.


	19. Dragon, Tiger, Serpent…and Noir

Hinata, the Wafū Chabō Hinata, an hour after lunch…

"Irasshaimase!"

"Where's Haruka?!"

Hearing that familiar voice, Urashima Haruka — who had managed to get back to Hinata after ensuring Seta Noriyasu got to Tōkyō University so that she could be around for the lunch rush, especially given the number of construction workers now tearing up the Hinata-dōri as well as those Avalonians helping with the reconstruction of the Hinata-sō itself — perked before she looked over her shoulder. "What are you doing here?" she asked as she walked over to gaze on her aunt Nanako, who had been greeted by Terazawa Masako. "Shouldn't you be helping run the candy store in Hayama?" she wondered.

The older woman shuddered on sensing that the tea shop matron was annoyed at her presence. "Why can't I go onto the property, Haruka?!" she demanded as she pointed towards the Shōgimon. "When I tried to walk through that gate, THIS happened!"

She then pointed to the hand holding an envelope containing the seal of Hayama City Hall. On seeing that appendage, Haruka winced on noting the shiny skin, blisters and scarring indicative of a VERY intensive electrical burn. A glance at Nanako's face revealed the same sort of skin damage; the older woman's clothes also looked quite frayed. "The Hinata-sō grounds are now magically warded to prevent any sort of intrusion on the property," the tea shop matron then stated as she moved to light up a cigarette. As Masako stepped up to the main floor to monitor the customers, her lover/employer added, "Atop that, there are other defences as well, all powered by Avalonian technology. When Keitarō invited Masako and her sisters to live at the Hinata-sō, he got them to put those defences in. With all the girls coming down from space starting later today, they'll need new places to live…and a lot of those girls are going to be in pretty bad shape. It was the right thing to…"

"Don't give me that!" Keitarō's mother snapped. "Explain _this_!"

She held out the envelope in her hand. Haruka blinked before she took it, then opened it to see what was inside. One glance at the paper there made her blink again before she calmly folded it up and put it back into the envelope. "Doesn't surprise me," she said as she moved to hand that back to Nanako. "Your stupid daughter made all sorts of noise about marrying him last January, which distracted him from passing the Centre Test. You then kicked him out of the house. Now you're wondering why he decided he doesn't want to have anything to do with you — much less your husband or daughter — anymore? Didn't all the unanswered e-mails and blocked phone calls give you a clue?"

Nanako — who didn't grasp the envelope — gaped. "Wh-what…?"

Haruka sighed. "You know, if this was before Wednesday, I'd be pretty shocked on seeing that," she then admitted as she sat down at the edge of the genkan, holding up the envelope in emphasis. Inwardly smirking on sensing that all the customers were listening in on this — not to mention noting that several of the Avalonians in visual range were placing their hands on their Lawgivers in case Nanako got violent — she added, "After all, I blinded myself to a lot of things when it came to Keitarō since he came to live here. All the abuse he was being subjected to from the girls in the dorm was just added onto all the shit his family — in other words, Obā-chan and you — forced on him in the last year or so!" She pointed to Keitarō's mother in emphasis.

"I did that to make him stop whining for this promise girl!" the older woman shrilled.

"Which he has now done," Haruka affirmed. "All thanks very much to Obā-chan. I'm surprised you didn't recognize the name 'Dō Karumi,' Nanako-san. Didn't you ever hear the rumours of what happened at the Hinata-sō forty years ago when your uncle was courting her? How she disappeared without a trace…and people here in town began to believe Obā-chan murdered her?" As Nanako's skin paled — as she had worked at the Hinata-sō fifteen years ago, she DID know of those rumours — the younger woman shrugged. "Obā-chan trapped her in the tunnels under the Hinata-sō, then slammed blood ki wards over where she buried Karumi-san to keep her away from Ō'oji-chan. That broke his heart and eventually killed him. On Thursday, Taeko-san told Keitarō what happened, then he went down there to get Karumi-san out. Once she got a new body, _marei'cha_ happened." A smirk crossed her face. "All thanks to Obā-chan and her need to play chess with people's lives. Oh!" She held up a finger. "When Keitarō and Taeko-san destroyed those blood ki wards, that back-lashed on Obā-chan. That's why she's now in a coma in Belgium."

"Wh-wh-what…?" Nanako sputtered in stunned disbelief.

"It's true," Masako stated as she came over to stand protectively behind Haruka. "I was there when they brought Karumi-san's old body into the banquet hall where we proceeded to clone her a new body, then have her undergo _tre'cha_. It was a sheer MIRACLE she was still ALIVE after FORTY YEARS of being trapped down there!" As Nanako gaped at her, the brown-haired tea shop worker added, "It's a pity that Hina used blood ki wards in her move to _**steal**_ the Hinata-sō from her brother. If she had just buried Karumi-san alive — which she could have done — your mother-in-law would be perfectly alright…to be dragged in front of a court on MURDER charges! What would THAT do to the reputation of your family if _that_ ever went public?" On seeing the older woman wince in response, Masako smirked. "And you wonder why Keitarō-kun no longer wishes to be legally related to you, much less your husband, adopted daughter or mother-in-law?"

"That can't be true!" Nanako snapped.

"It IS true, Nanako! Get over it!" Haruka snapped back. "As for this, I can't do a damned thing to change it." She tossed the envelope back at her aunt. "Even more so, I WON'T do anything to convince Keitarō to change his mind about this." As Nanako gaped in shock on hearing that assertion while the envelope fluttered to the floor, Haruka added, "He's a legal adult now, so he doesn't have to do a damned thing for you and your family anymore. That includes Obā-chan. Keitarō became the legal owner of the Hinata-sō yesterday morning thanks to Obā-chan being declared guilty of LYING to him and ENTRAPPING him in an environment where he had next to no control over anything around him. Because of that idiot obsession of hers to control other people's lives, Obā-chan now has no place to come back to…if she survives what Keitarō and Taeko-san did to her, of course." She shrugged. "Well, that's too bad."

"She's your mother!"

"She's my ADOPTED mother! She became that after Okā-chan and Otō-chan died!" Haruka reminded her. "And much that I might have been sympathetic to Obā-chan once, now that I know what sort of fool stunt she pulled on Karumi-san all those years ago, maybe it's best that she's now cut off from the Hinata-sō! Did you know — or even CARE — that when Keitarō came down here last winter, he wasn't even WARNED ahead of time that the place had become an all-girls dorm house?! Did you even think of warning him ahead of time that your husband had signed that power of attorney with Obā-chan to make Keitarō the new manager of the Hinata-sō?! You must have known that at least!"

"Of course I knew that!" Nanako snapped. "I agreed to it! If he was made to watch over the Hinata-sō, then he'd forget that whole promise girl nonsense with that Narusegawa brat and make a life for himself, just like his father did!"

Haruka blinked. "You knew it was Naru-chan?!" she demanded.

"Of course I did! I worked at the Hinata-sō when the stupid little girl was staying there fifteen years ago! Hina told me everything!" Nanako stated.

"Then why didn't you tell Keitarō?!"

"Why should I have done that?!" Nanako demanded. "I've heard what sort of monster that selfish brat's become! Beating up on any boy that ever got close to her when she came to school here in Hinata, even for those who only wanted to be the little bitch's FRIEND! It's no wonder that she's got the reputation she has now! Why the hell do you think I'd APPROVE of any sort of relationship between my son and that stupid girl?!"

"Then why didn't you tell Keitarō?!" Haruka repeated before her eyes narrowed. "Or did you actually LIKE the idea of him being beaten up by Naru-chan and the others over the last year?!" she wondered, which made Nanako gape in shock. "After all, Keitarō's well-known all across _**Kantō**_ thanks to all the times he was sent flying up to Tomobiki, Nerima, Roppongi and elsewhere whenever Naru-chan or Motoko-chan went crazy on him! Didn't you think of what other people might have thought about YOU when the news got out as to WHY Keitarō was forced to deal with such girls?!" She shook her head. "And if you didn't care at all about the promise Keitarō made with Naru-chan all those years ago, why the hell didn't you make him understand while he was growing up that those sorts of things really don't matter when they're made between young children?!"

"Because Hina always reminded him the promise had validity and he had to honour it!"

"So why didn't you make Obā-chan back off and leave Keitarō alone?!" Haruka pressed. "You're his MOTHER! She was just his GRANDMOTHER! YOU had the responsibility to teach Keitarō those things, not Obā-chan! Even if she was head of the clan, Obā-chan had no legal authority over you or your husband…and especially no authority over how you raised Keitarō or Kanako-chan! And she was down here in Hinata while you were all living up in Hayama after the Candy Shoppe was set up and you could finally live on your own! Didn't you even NOTICE that Keitarō was starting to obsess about that whole promise even back in middle school?! Why didn't you do something about it?!"

"He would have gotten over it!" Nanako snapped.

Haruka blinked as she stared at the older woman before shaking her head. "I can't believe this," she breathed out before making a dismissive wave with her hand. "No! Actually, I CAN believe this! You just didn't want to bother yourself with Keitarō when he was growing up! I'll bet it's because you wanted to concentrate on raising Kanako-chan after you adopted her! Gods! You're no different than Naru-chan's idiot mother!" As Nanako croaked out in stunned shock over hearing Haruka compare her to Narusegawa Yui, the tea shop matron snorted. "Got a new child to fawn over, so you left your REAL child to fend for himself, all confidant that because he was such a helpful sort of kid when he was younger, he would be able to make his own way in life from that point on!" She shook her head again. "You never taught him whatsoever to watch out for shysters and con artists like Konno Mitsune! Did you know that girl STOLE all of Keitarō's life savings over the last year just to bet on horse races?! Keitarō could have used that money to help pay for the property taxes the city charged to the Hinata-sō; if he couldn't pay for them, the place would've been seized by the city at the start of April and they all would have been evicted! Because Obā-chan didn't give Keitarō any money to pay for those taxes, he had no choice but to go to Moroboshi Ataru's family to get a loan to pay for them!"

"We have the money, Haruka!"

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

And then…

"Obā-chan sent YOU the money?!" Haruka demanded.

"Of course she did! Do you think she wanted to lose the Hinata-sō?!"

"Then why the hell didn't Obā-chan tell him that you had the money?!" Keitarō's cousin demanded. "Ever since he got the property tax bill, he's been sending e-mails and calling Obā-chan constantly to get the money sent down to him!"

"Do you honestly think we could have trusted Keitarō with that amount of money?!" Nanako snapped. "Especially with a selfish little slut like Konno living there?!"

Haruka gaped. "So why the hell didn't you tell Keitarō about THAT, huh?!" she asked as Masako rolled her eyes and all the patrons could only shake their heads at how idiotic Keitarō's mother really was. "You were in contact with him right up until last summer! He TOLD you about the abuse Naru-chan and Motoko-chan and Su-chan were heaping all over him! He TOLD you about the times Kitsune put the moves on him! Didn't it ever ONCE occur to you that maybe there was a serious problem down here and that you — because you KNEW all this stuff — had a responsibility to help him even if YOU were the one who forced him out of your house, which STARTED this whole mess in the first place?!"

"She abandoned him, Haruka. All because she cared more for Kanako, not Keitarō-kun."

Eyes locked on Masako, who had silently drawn a Lawgiver from the holster tied to her hakama to hold it at her side. On seeing that alien-built pistol, Nanako paled. Noting that, Haruka smirked. "And how is child abandonment punished, Masako?"

"Death," came the cold reply.

THAT made Nanako gargle in horror as the younger woman's eyes raked over her. A quick glance to the people sitting on the main floor revealed many women — all of whom looked just as beautiful as Masako — glaring intently at her, some holding their own sidearms out in the open as they moved to click off safety switches and alter the power settings all the way to Level Twelve. As Keitarō's mother sputtered in shock on realizing that she wasn't going to get _**any**_ support whatsoever from this crowd, she began to back away towards the main entrance. Haruka sighed as she picked up the envelope that had been sent to the Urashima home in Hayama with the copy of the amended records in the Urashima _koseki_ that now indicated there was no legal relation now recognized between Urashima Mashiro and his wife Nanako with their son Keitarō. Grabbing Nanako's hand — which made the older woman hiss at the strength of that grip and how roughly the younger woman was handling that wounded appendage — Haruka slapped the envelope into it. "Now get the hell out of my tea shop and never show your face here again," the younger woman coldly ordered. "I'll be sure to pass all this on to Mayor Takada and everyone else in town. They've always wondered where the hell you and your husband were when your son was being used as a punching back and target dummy by the girls Obā-chan forced him to deal with over the last year. I'm sure that'll go down well with a lot of people here in Hinata."

With that, she shoved Nanako by the jaw out of the Wafū Chabō, and then tossed her off to her left onto the Hinata-dōri beyond. As the older woman cried out thanks to the air being suddenly forced out of her from the impact on the asphalt, Haruka pulled out her cigarette pack to draw another of the soothing sticks of tobacco into her mouth. "Oh, by the way, want to know who and what Keitarō's REAL sister Taeko-san is?!" she asked as she lit her cigarette. "Ask your husband or your daughter about the Yōkatana Hinata and what _**really**_ happened in Kyōto in the Great Fire of 1603! It should give you another reason to not show your face in this town again!"

As Nanako gaped in shock on hearing that, Haruka headed back inside. After a moment as her mind tried to absorb the fact that her niece/adopted sister-in-law clearly wasn't going to help fix the situation between the Urashima family in Hayama and the young man who was now their son _**only**_ in genetics, the older woman slowly got to her feet…

_WHAM!_

…only to find herself FLYING into the early afternoon air thanks to being smacked in the back thanks to a concrete barrier being swung at her by one of the construction labors now helping out on the Hinata-dōri!

"Whoops!" the machine's pilot called out. "Sorry about that!"

Watching this from nearby, Maehara Makiko — who had been detailed to supervise the construction of the new outer wall that would surround the Wafū Chabō so that both technological and magical defences could be incorporated in to shield the people living inside from any threat — could only shake her head. "Now she knows what Sempai's gone through over the last year," the Steel Angel adult-form replica of Maehara Shinobu mused aloud as she watched Keitarō's helpless mother disappear into the western sky for an impromptu swim way out in the Sagami Sea.

Also having seen that was Ashinano Hitoshi, the Hinata city building inspector who had been assigned to look over all the modifications and upgrades to the Hinata-sō and the surrounding properties. "A fitting end to someone like her," he noted.

"Hai," Makiko breathed out…

* * *

Back inside the Wafū Chabō, Haruka walked over to one corner table set as far as one could get from the genkan in the main dining area.

"You okay?" she quietly asked.

Urashima Keitarō blinked on hearing that concerned question before he sighed. "Why?" he wondered as he fought back the urge to break down and cry. "Why, Haruka?"

"Because she felt you deserved it."

Both of them gazed on Dō Karumi, who had a vile look on her face as she tapped a control on the dataPADD to shut off the recording she started to make — with the help of Tanya Lipińsky, who had been sitting right by the genkan with her own dataPADD — on sensing Keitarō's mother approach the tea shop. "What?!" Haruka hissed out. "Why?!"

The tōshi shrugged. "Well, we can't blame the blood wards Hina used on me on her daughter-in-law, can we?" she quipped, which made her fiancé snort as a grin crossed his face. "She believed that — since Kei didn't listen to a damned thing she said about the whole promise girl thing — he _deserved_ to be pounded on by Narusegawa and Aoyama when he came down here last winter. Hard knocks teach a pretty ugly lesson to people, so she wanted him to experience it. It was the way she was probably raised. Don't you remember?" she then asked Keitarō.

He nodded. He had met his maternal relations on several occasions when he was much younger. He had never liked either of his mother's parents…which, in both Haruka's and Karumi's minds, said a lot about them given how much Keitarō always preferred to see the positive aspects of everyone he met. Every time Nanako's parents visited either the Hinata-sō or the Urashima Candy Shoppe, they found every damned excuse in the world to verbally put down their daughter for anything she did. And while both of them — at least to his knowledge — were still alive, Keitarō couldn't find it within himself to care either which way about Kodaira Jōji or his wife Satsuko. For the life of him, Keitarō had never really understood why his mother's relatives always treated her like crap. Urashima Nanako had — for as long as he could remember — always been a caring person when it came to her only son; only in the wake of his failing to pass the Centre Test two years ago did she start showing any sort of harsh negative feelings towards him. And he had never ONCE been resentful of Nanako for concentrating on Kanako when she had been adopted into the family; his adopted sister had lost her real parents in a fire when she was a baby and there had been no immediate relatives around to take the child in.

So why on Earth did she feel THAT way about Keitarō NOW…?

"Yeah, from what Obā-chan told me about Nanako's parents, they were always pretty harsh on her," Haruka mused as she sat beside her cousin. "Not physically abusive or anything like that, but always demanding too much of her. She was relieved when she finally got away from them to marry Mashiro." She shook her head. "She KNEW!" she then spat out. "All this time, she knew about Naru-chan being the promise girl! I can understand why Taeko-san never told you about that, but why the hell didn't Nanako say anything?!" she asked her cousin. "All she had to do was tell you that, then explain why she didn't care a damned bit about you going through with the promise!" She gritted her teeth as the other revelation made now by Keitarō's mother came back to her. "And she had the damned money to pay for the property taxes all along, too?! Why the HELL didn't Obā-chan tell you that, Keitarō?!"

He shrugged. "Who knows," he quietly stated before sipping his tea.

"You should pass on the word to the police, Keitarō-kun," one of the workers sitting at a nearby table noted. "If she was given the money to pay for the property taxes by your grandmother, she should damn hell give the money to Ataru-kun's family to pay back that loan."

"I'll pass it on to Tamasuke-kun," Karumi noted. "He's good friends with the mayor of Hayama." She then sighed as she finished her tea. "C'mon," she urged her fiancé as she set aside some money. "We got something to do right now."

He nodded as he finished his tea before rising to follow her out of the Wafū Chabō. Haruka watched them go before she looked up as Masako came over. "Is he okay?" she asked.

The younger woman smiled. "He'll be fine," she stated.

Keitarō's cousin nodded…

* * *

"'S okay to be mad, Kei."

Keitarō sighed as they walked through the Shōgimon and began ascending the stairs. "I'm just too numb to be mad right now, Karu," he admitted as he gently grasped Karumi's hand. "When it started really hitting me late last summer about what I'd been dumped into, I was mad then at Okā-san. That's why I ultimately stopped replying to their e-mails and blocked them from being able to call me." He then shrugged. "Maybe I was just being petulant at the time, but now that I know all that…"

"Parents can't expect their kids to respect them if they pull stupid stunts like that on them," she noted. "It's just like the bullshit between Ataru and his parents. They honestly can't expect him to just keep standing there and take all their insults at him because he's not his twin brother." She shook her head. "I hope he decides to just walk out of that place once and for all time. He doesn't have any real friends up there, so there's really no reason for him to go back; Saiko and Danu told me that."

"He'd be seen as running away from them," he noted. "That would give the idiots that always blamed him for everything that happened in that town since Danu-san's sister started living there a victory. He wants to **_break_** them first." A smirk then crossed his face. "Should be interesting to see their reaction to what Negako-san is going to have revealed in tonight's news," he then commented as they arrived at the crest of the steps close to the main doors of the Hinata-sō. Taking a moment to note that all the external work on the south wing was done, he nodded in approval before gazing to his left at the new southwest wing, which was still getting its outer walls and roof installed; Tanya Lipińsky expected that to be finished by nightfall. "Looks good."

"And they'll all be under cover when they want something to eat," she noted as she nodded to their right front at the new dining area, which had been fully connected to the south wing. "Not to mention laze around in the new recreation room."

He smiled. The banquet hall in the north wing — which had become a recreation room over the last couple of years — had been shifted to the third floor of the new dining wing. Maehara Shinobu's original suggestion had been modified when Kudō Kana proposed moving the kitchen and dining hall up to the second floor to put it at the same level as the lower residence floor of the south and north wings. The old kitchen would now serve as part of a large storage room — complete with walk-in refrigerators and special lifts to bring up the food directly into the new kitchen — to ensure all the victuals required for the people who would be living at the Hinata-sō once it was open to take in new residents on Thursday could be stored without cramming things in.

With the banquet hall out of the way, the north wing — which had been constructed at a slight tilt towards the east away from the centre-line of the south wing — could then be rebuilt into a new residence wing shaped like an upside-down "T" with a thick stem to cap off the square "U" shape of the south wing. This would allow the pond that was framed by the south wing — which had been converted into a new natural hot spring by Tanya's workers — to be covered over at the level of the roof to give people a place indoors to bathe in case of inclement weather. The old outdoor bathing area to the east of the north wing would remain in place and be joined by additional bathing areas where the Detached Hall had once stood, thus augmenting the new hot springs that had been dug out of the hill north of the southwest wing. As Kana had planned it right from the start, all residents of the Hinata-sō would be within at least twenty metres' walking distance to a hot spring.

The old annex hall located to the west of the Hinata-sō's south wing and the small building where the laundry facilities and Keitarō's old bathing area had been located were totally gone now; the laundry would now be located in the west branch of the north wing on the second floor. The annex hall had been replaced in part with the base of a tower structure that was topped off over the level of the south wing's roof with a three-story pagoda-like structure similar to what could be found at temples all across eastern Asia. The tower itself could be accessed through the manager's quarters in Room 204; its eastern face was flush to the west wall of the south wing and the south face flush to the north wall of the southwest wing. The tower would be where Urashima Taeko and Maria Eiffel could practice their magic in safety and security; at Moroboshi Negako's and Yomigawa Tsukiko's suggestions, the tower's basic structure had been built with rods of ruby meson inserted right into the walls which could absorb some of the most devastating attacks that both Keitarō's adopted sister and the spiritual child of the man who had built the Eiffel Tower were now capable of unleashing. The tower base was surrounded with specially-reinforced walls — they reaching out to enclose the former ground space of the old annex — that framed a new courtyard of sorts for Taeko and Maria to relax in. To add to the tranquillity of the place, sakura trees had been transplanted there — with permission from Negako — from the Moroboshi Clan's property on Rishiri-tō off the northwest corner of Hokkaidō; once they began to bloom late in March, they would form a beautiful pink canopy over the yard.

To ensure privacy, Room 205 — Konno Mitsune's room — had been united with the manager's space in Room 204 to become a work office for the Hinata-sō's administrative staff, which would eventually come together under Takai Kiko's charge. To compensate for the loss of her old room, the would-be writer would get the choice of any two-person rooms — keeping in mind her growing relationship with Sakuramachi Yūko — in either the north wing or the southwest wing. One potential place Mitsune could take was the soon-to-be-completed Room 341, a two-person space sited at the northeast corner of the southwest wing on the third floor, just right around the corner from Narusegawa Naru's Room 304 and the neighbouring empty Room 303, where Ogasawara Iori could move into.

One other place Naru's new girlfriend could choose to live in was the long-unused Room 305 just north of Naru's own room, located above Mitsune's old room. Said room could be made into an extension of Naru's space with just the installation of a new connecting door between them. Room 305 had windows that opened out to the west…thought said windows would be enchanted to ensure no one — especially Aoyama Motoko or Kaolla Su — could use them as a way of accessing Taeko's and Maria's new private area. Thinking on that, Keitarō reminded himself to tell Irina Bellova — who had been selected by Taeko and Kiko to coordinate where the new tenants would go once the all-clear was made by Tanya to allow people to move in — to ensure that whoever would move into Room 305 (if it wouldn't be Iori) was tough enough physically and mentally to deal with both Motoko and Kaolla. Keitarō personally didn't trust either of those girls to back off and leave things be once they realized they couldn't try to access Taeko's personal quarters via either the direct route (walking through the front door into Room 204) or the flanking route (crawling over the wall into the new courtyard).

"Did you know the old ventilation system had ducts that were wide enough for people to crawl through?" Karumi then mused as she gazed on her fiancé. "That's how the little brat was able to get around from place to place so fast like she did."

"I figured it out eventually," Keitarō said as he gave her an amused smile. "That's why I had Kana and Tanya-san make sure that the ducts would be far too small for Kaolla to crawl into from now on. Not to mention sealed off from any attempts at sending a robot probe through; I wouldn't put it past Kaolla to try that once she gets back here."

She shook her head. "That's going to annoy the hell out of her."

He shrugged. "She has to grow up sooner or later, Karu."

"True…"

Thinking on the young princess of Molmol, Keitarō could only sigh as he imagined what her reaction would be to all the changes in the Hinata-sō. He would be living in the cabin he now shared with his fiancée on the north side of Hinata Creek, which would be behind both magical wards and Avalonian technological shielding that would detect Kaolla's DNA and give her quite the ugly electrical shock before she could try to horn in where she wasn't invited. As he just mused right now, Taeko — who would be living in Keitarō's old room inside the Hinata-sō — wouldn't care one bit to have the princess intrude where she wasn't wanted; the landlady's room and other personal spaces would be heavily warded as well. Going to Motoko, Naru or Mitsune to help her get into those places ultimately wouldn't work; with Sakurada Tamao, Ogasawara Iori and Sakuramachi Yūko now seeking relationships with the oldest of the Hinata-sō's original tenants, none of them would have any time for Kaolla anymore…to say anything of the fact that neither Motoko, Naru nor Mitsune would be allowed either past the Hinata Creek or into Taeko's personal spaces. Maehara Shinobu didn't really care for the princess now thanks to what Kaolla's older-self had done to see her new sister Makiko created; if Kaolla pushed it, Kashiwamura Moe and Shinobu's other friends from Hinata Middle School would be there to help keep the older girl in line. Finally — and this was the more positive side of things in Keitarō's mind — Kaolla would be distracted by her governess Tirtha Sapta and her best friend Leida Gan, not to mention Kaolla's current magical guardian Tenna Kan, the Royal Wizard of Molmol Surya Patha and her present apprentice Carra Nat…and that didn't mention Kaolla's own Steel Angel sister, Tamara Su.

Speaking of which…

"We should be ready to allow people to move in by tomorrow at lunch, Onii-chan."

Keitarō smiled as he leaned back to allow Tamara to embrace him from behind. As Karumi smirked — much that she was concerned about the gynoid replicas of the youngest of the Hinata-sō's original residents flirting with her fiancé, she knew that both Tamara and Makiko were still childlike in nature, akin to Maria Eiffel in a way; they understood the mechanics of sex and were fully functional in that respect, but didn't feel emotionally ready to engage in that…even with the man who had woken them up with a kiss — on seeing that show of affection, he sighed. "By that time, Kaolla-chan will have undergone her body-swap. Hopefully, Leida-chan and she'll have their 'time of the month' with each other, so that'll distract her. Sorry to force that…"

A shake of the head answered him. "Don't be sorry, Onii-chan," Tamara said. "It's not your fault that no one ever really took the chance to discover what's really going on with Kaolla's people. Given how the other girls in this place let her get away with so much ever since she moved here, it's no wonder she just went crazy on you like she did." She sighed as she leaned her chin on his shoulder. "I know you care for her even with all she did to you, but you're still just too hurt and too angry to be close to any of the others now. Besides, she'll need time to adjust to having a brain that's firing on all neurons without any damage from the ebony meson in the Kasi Mountains."

"True…"

"I wonder if there's any ebony meson where Kei's idiot parents live," Karumi muttered.

Tamara looked over. "What do you mean, Onē-chan?"

The tōshi quickly explained what just happened down at the Wafū Chabō. Taking that in, Kaolla's new sister gaped in shock before she shook her head. "You mean all this time that Onii-chan's been worrying himself into an ulcer about the property taxes and all that, his stupid mom's had the money?! And she knew about who the promise girl actually was?! Why?!"

"I don't know, Tamara-chan…and right now, I really don't want to think about it," he confessed, which made her hug him close as she projected all the love she had for him to show that she supported him all the way. "If Okā-san has any sense of decency in her, she'll go to Tomobiki and pay the loan back. But…" He shook his head. "I doubt it. She might use the money to force me to recant what I arranged to have happen with the _koseki_. I'm not interested in submitting to her; I don't know if I can trust myself around her anymore, much less Otō-san or Kanako." A noisy breath of air then escaped him. "Well, it's what Okā-san wanted all along, I guess. She wanted me to go live my life away from the house. I'm doing just that."

"Yeah, she got what she wished for…which'll teach the stupid bitch to be careful what she wishes for in the future," Karumi noted, which made Keitarō laugh. "C'mon, Kei. Let's go upstairs to give Konno the good news. You gotta see some of the stuff up there to believe it."

He chuckled as he looked into the sky overhead. "Never thought — even after meeting Ataru — that I'd ever get the chance to go into _**space**_," he commented.

Tamara and Karumi laughed…

* * *

Hinata Middle School, that moment…

"So when she said that she came from the 'deserts of Tōkyō,' Su was actually talking about the capital city of this 'turtle kingdom' that ruled over all the islands in the Pacific all those years ago?" Takagi Reiko, a demure brown-eyed girl with centre-parted sienna-shaded hair, asked before she took a sip from a can of ice coffee.

"Hai, Reiko-chan," Leida Gan said as she pointed to the crude map she had sketched out in the rocks with a stick to show the members of Class 2-3 everything about hers and Kaolla's home country; they were all now sitting around a small rock garden set to one side of the main school building. "Tōḍēi can only be seen by people who are either magical or have any sort of meson in their blood during the times of the Crimson Moon…but since half the population of Molmol is magical to one extent or another and everyone living there is affected by meson…"

The others in the class all nodded in understanding. "Is Kaolla-chan going to be okay, Leida-chan?" Taichi Akiko then asked from beside their newest classmate. The genki girl with the brown hair tied into side ponytails and the brown-grey eyes was probably the only person in all of the school who addressed the young princess by given name; on meeting her earlier in the day, Leida had sensed that Akiko really did care for her foreign-born classmate…and suspected that the latter might actually want to be intimate with Kaolla if she got the chance. "I mean, with what everyone plans about making her an Avalonian and all that?"

"Well, it's either that or force-feed her a ruby meson-based drug to help her neurons regenerate, not to mention fix up the damage her mind's taken over the years from the ebony meson in the Kasi Mountains." Leida pointed their location on the rough map of Molmol Island she had made in the rocks once more in emphasis.

"So what's it like?" one of the boys in the class, Ueda Yūji, asked. "The whole body-swapping thing, I mean. I think it'd be cool to do something like that."

The newcomer to the class hummed. "Well, the actual soul-shift felt like diving backwards into the deep end of a swimming pool to me," she admitted before allowing some of her life energy to form a reddish halo around one hand. As her classmates all gasped in awe on seeing such a display of power, Leida winked. "The meson that was in my old body shifted over to the new body; it ended up tearing my old body apart." As many of the girls winced, she relaxed herself. "Fortunately, they cremated my old body up on Space Factory #319 right away so that whatever meson was still in my old body couldn't try to regenerate it and allow it to become an inferius."

"What's that?!" another girl, Hanazawa Kana, asked.

"You'd call it a 'zombie,' Kana-chan."

All the girls made "Eew!" sounds on hearing that as all the boys winced. "After that came the Awakening, but that was pretty cool," Leida then added. "I was born with magic in the first place, so actually being able to feel — and even _see_! — the magic and life energy in everything around me doesn't strike me as really odd."

"So how come most magicals always hide themselves?!" Matsumoto Yasunori then wondered. He was the boy's _iinchō_ for Class 2-3; Reiko served as the girl's _iinchō_. "I heard that from my dad when news about Taeko-sempai and Maria-sempai first got out."

"Well, the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy was mostly a European thing at the start," Leida stated. "Back in the Seventeenth Century, there were all the witch burnings and all that; you know about the Salem witch trials, don't you?" As her new friends nodded, she shrugged. "Well, it was decided at that time that it was just the best thing to do in the long run. Putting up a secrecy veil protected both sides. It allowed magicals to live their lives as they wanted to live…and it would allow normals to develop their technology without any influence from magicals; the Industrial Revolution started up in Great Britain a few decades after the Statute went into effect." She pointed down. "I've read that it wasn't so well liked here in Japan or elsewhere in eastern Asia. Magicals here were almost always normal-born, so there were no 'pureblood' family lines like they were in Europe." As her friends nodded, she shrugged once more. "I think that keeping the Statute in place these days is really stupid. We have the Steel Angels like Tamara-chan and Makiko-chan…" — she tried not to growl in jealousy on thinking about Kaolla's and Shinobu's adopted sisters — "…come out in the 1920s and 1930s, followed by the first generation of non-magical metahumans in the 1930s and 1940s. Now we've got aliens interacting with us. Heck, I'm a metahuman, a magical AND an alien ALL IN ONE when you get down to it!" She winked conspiratorially at her friends. "Even if magical traditionalists would all piss themselves on hearing someone call them 'metahuman!'"

The others laughed…before they perked on hearing someone ask, "What's so funny?!"

People turned as a small crowd from Class 1-2 came up, led by Maehara Shinobu and her closest friends; this was currently a study hall for both classes. Much to the amusement of the older students, Shinobu was walking hand-in-hand with Kashiwamura Moe; on seeing such an open display of affection for the first time yesterday morning, every girl in Hinata Middle School had squealed and crooned on how cute it looked…which made Shinobu's cheeks redden all the way to the **Don't Point That at MY Planet!** stage until Arai Kiyomi began yelling at them to knock it off. "Leida-chan was just telling us how stupid a lot of magicals on Earth are, Kiyomi-chan," Akiko — who was friendly with Kiyomi and her friends since she was one of the few upperclassmen who had always been friendly with Shinobu; no doubt, it was because Akiko saw herself as Kaolla's friend and wanted to know the other middle school student who currently lived at the Hinata-sō — stated as the younger students sat on free benches around the rock garden.

"Why do you say they're stupid, Leida-chan?" Shinobu asked.

"Because they enclave themselves away from normals most of the time, Shinobu-chan," Leida answered. "Especially in Europe and the Americas. It's not so bad here in Asia; you don't see that sort of thing here in Japan at all. You met Konoe-kōchōsensei and his relatives when they came here to test Taeko-onēchan's and Maria-onēchan's magical levels, didn't you?"

A shake of the head answered her. "I didn't really get to meet them since Motoko-sempai's sister was there that day," Shinobu confessed before a churlish smile then crossed her face as she winked. "Though I did get to see her nearly piss her panties on meeting Taeko-sempai!"

"Okay! Who are you and what the hell did you do to the real Shinobu-chan?!" Yūji hotly demanded. "What did you do, Moe-chan?! She's NEVER acted like that in all the years we've known her!"

Many of the people there laughed. "That's what a _marei'cha_ bond does to people, Yūji-kun," Moe answered as Shinobu blushed. "We inherit knowledge from each other. I get things from Shinobu, she gets them from me." She leaned over to kiss her lover on the lips, which made all the older girls save Leida gasp in shock and awe on seeing such a public display of affection.

"Moe gives me new strength to finally come out and say what I've always felt about things, Yūji-sempai," Shinobu added. "It's actually quite liberating now. I was just so scared to admit what I felt about everything around me before we bonded."

"So how soon will we all become aunts and uncles?" Reiko then teased.

That made Shinobu's blush turn nuclear. "_**SEMPAI!**_"

The others laughed as Moe embraced her lover in reassurance…just before a shocked scream of outrage echoed from nearby. People spun around as a huffing woman in her late forties stormed over. "Kashiwamura Moe! Maehara Shinobu! How DARE you act so scandalously in public?!" the school's librarian, Dōtoku Niseko, thundered as she pointed in a threatening manner at the bonded couple. "Your parents would be ashamed of you, Maehara-kun! Acting like that trollop you have as a house-mate! We're going right down to the principal's office and we'll give your mother a call…!"

"You can't do that, Dōtoku-_san_," Shinobu evenly answered, making her friends gasp in shock and disbelief on hearing her NOT address the older woman with the "sensei" honorific. As the older woman sputtered in outrage on seeing that the normally-meek freshman student was NOT deferring to her, the youngest of the Hinata-sō's original tenants added, "Since this morning, I'm under the legal charge of Urashima Taeko-sempai. She also saw to it that the local summary court judged that since I was effectively ABANDONED by my parents two years ago, they have no further say in my life. If you want to drag those deadbeats into this, you have to call Taeko-sempai to ensure she is there as well!" Her eyes narrowed. "Though I doubt you'd want to face the wrath of the _**Destroyer of Kyōto**_ of all things!" she then added with a raised finger in warning.

Dōtoku gargled with a mixture of wild fear and total outrage thanks to her both being threatened AND defied by the younger girl. As the non-Avalonians sitting around the rock garden all gaped in admiration on seeing Shinobu stand up to the old bat like that — in many ways, Dōtoku Niseko had a lot in common with a certain nurse currently working at Mikasa Girls Senior and Junior High School over in Yokosuka that Aoyama Motoko and her schoolmates universally despised — in public, Moe then smiled as she allowed her hand to drift down to her holstered Lawgiver. On seeing _that_ visible threat from the Terran-form Avalonian freshman — as everyone knew, the senior officer of the Kanagawa Prefecture Police had given his okay to allowing all the Avalonians in Hinata and elsewhere to carry the Zephyrite-built pistols on their persons in visible holsters to ensure they could defend themselves from both xenophobes and perverts; the one restriction was that the weapons could not be set to lethal power levels — the old librarian croaked…before a sudden wave of compressed air pushed into her from behind.

"What are you doing threatening Shinobu-ya and Moe-ya, Niseko-ssi?"

"Taeko-sempai!" Katō Mika called out.

Gulping, Dōtoku slowly turned to find herself gazing into the burning grey eyes of one Urashima Taeko, who had just teleported herself from Taitō Ward and was now glaring down at the librarian, her arms crossed. As Leida drew out a strange device that looked like a tricorder from her pocket, the tokkaebi-turned-sorceress leaned over to stare intently into the older woman's eyes, which made Dōtoku cringe. "Answer me!" Taeko demanded.

An unintelligible sputter of sounds escaped the older woman…before a polite cough echoed from somewhere behind Taeko. "I do apologize for Dōtoku-kun, Taeko-sama," an elderly man's voice then stated, which made Taeko look over to gaze upon the principal of Hinata Middle School, a peer of Mayor Takada Tamasuke's named Oikiwa Koshirō. "She's always seen herself as the supervisor of morals here despite the fact that we have a teacher of morals and culture on staff here at the school." On saying that, he gave the librarian an even look, which made Dōtoku sputter even further.

"I know that, Koshirō-ssi," Taeko said with a polite smile and a nod. "As a matter of fact, I also know that Niseko-ssi here was the woman who started up those stupid rumours three years ago that ended up destroying Shinobu-ya's family." As Shinobu gasped in shock on hearing that, Taeko smirked as she added, "It seems that Niseko-ssi's daughter got a crush on Shinobu-ya's father…but given his loyalty to his wife at the time, he didn't care to reciprocate such affection. So she decided to make Shinobu-ya's mother want to remove herself from the equation, thus clearing the path, so to speak."

"_**THAT'S A LIE!**_" Dōtoku screamed out.

"_**YOU MONSTER!**_"

_ZZ-ZARK!_

The librarian was flung past a calmly dodging Taeko and a bemused Oikiwa face-first into the wall beside the side doors of the school building thanks to Shinobu, who had snared Moe's pistol from its holster to shoot her in the back! As all the students gaped in shock on seeing that, Shinobu then began to sob as she lowered the weapon. Instantly, Moe moved to comfort as she took the pistol and slipped it back into its holster before she guided her weeping lover into the school building. Taeko held out an ofuda with han'gŭl characters on it as Moe moved to pass her. "Put that on the doors of the nurse's station, Moe-ya. Make sure you ask permission to use the bed there before you do that," the manager of the Hinata-sō said.

Moe nodded as she took the enchanted paper in hand. "Hai, Taeko-sama!"

Oikiwa nodded his approval as the two girls headed inside. "Come to my office after you're done to get a permission note, Kashiwamura-kun," he stated.

"Hai, Kōchō-sensei! Please excuse us!"

They headed inside. Taeko then sighed. "Koshirō-ssi, I expect that Niseko-ssi either learns from this lesson…or resigns her position," she then coldly warned. "I know for a fact that Osami-ssi has always resented Niseko-ssi butting in where she doesn't belong." As Oikiwa nodded — Nagano Osami was the school's ethics teacher — she turned to leave. "Now, if you'll kindly excuse me, I have other business to deal with." And with that, she teleported herself away from Hinata.

Oikiwa sighed. "Make sure you're all in class on time, kids," he then bade.

"Hai!" all the students chanted out as he headed inside, leaving behind a STILL unconscious librarian sprawled on the ground close to the doors.

Silence fell over the scene before Leida breathed out and put her tricorder away, a depressed look on her face. "What's wrong, Leida-chan?" Akiko asked.

"I was hoping to see a good transfiguration — that's magical psychokinesis — from Taeko-onēchan," the young genius from Molmol lamented. "On Saturday, she transformed the leader of the observers King Lamba sent here to watch over Kaolla into a magpie. I wanted to see her do something like that!"

"Why?!" Reiko asked.

"Because the idiot's STILL a magpie, Reiko-chan!" Leida stated. "That type of transfiguration on a living target only lasts a DAY when a normal magical does it!"

The others gaped at her before they all laughed…

* * *

Tōkyō, near the Hino home in Taitō Ward, that moment…

"Is everything okay, Lady Taeko?"

"Ne," Taeko stated as she slipped into the caravan that Wòhng Dākyùhn had rented so that he could convey Hinomura Yō to the current home of Hino Emu. She then perked on seeing who had joined Dākyùhn and Baahk Ngàhsin while she had been down in Hinata. "Ah, Fūnglīng-ssi! You came!"

"It is not wise to ignore any suggestion made by someone of your nature, Lady Taeko," Fú Fūnglīng said with a polite smile before she gazed once more at the imposing mansion nearby. Taeko was quick to see the older woman's eyes narrow in disapproval. "Though I personally can't see how this child could serve as Freeman's wife," she then muttered.

"Wait for it, Fūnglīng-ssi," Taeko teased. "It will come very soon."

A disapproving snort answered her as both Dākyùhn and Ngàhsin tried not to gape at the matriarch of the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì, both clearly wondering if Fūnglīng had totally taken leave of all her senses in questioning a suggestion made by a _tokkaebi_ — and the _**Destroyer of Kyōto**_ at that! — of all the sentient beings on Earth. Taeko tried not to smirk on noting such a reaction from both Yō's good friend and Fūnglīng's granddaughter at the older woman's strict adherence to tradition. The tokkaebi-turned-sorceress knew it would do the Heirs of Sorim-sa a lot of good in the future to have warriors who were capable of both thinking on their feet…and more importantly, _**questioning**_ what was happening around them! That was especially necessary for those for who would soon serve as advisers and strategists to the man who would become the Dragon Sun. Atop that, the man born Hinomura Yō — soon to be given the Cantonese name "Lùhng Taaijòehng" — would need a strong mate at his side to…

Wait!

What on Earth…?

Oh…!

_Oh, ho! What have we here?!_

Reaching out with her mage senses, Taeko locked in on the woman who was now in the narrow alley that ran behind the Hino home. A quick scan of the passionate young warrior from the Beautiful Land later, the landlady of the Hinata-sō then reached out to mask the senses of the others warriors of the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì — even Yō himself — from the newcomer's approach. _A dragon, a tigress…and now a_ serpent_?!_ Taeko mused as she tried not to giggle in amusement. _If Yō-ssi keeps this up, he'll have the whole damned_ **Zodiac** _serving him as his future mates…!_

* * *

Inside the Hino home…

"**_AH-CHOO!_**"

"Bless you!"

A groan answered Hino Emu. "Dōmo!" Hinomura Yō moaned out before he indicated what had just caught his attention. "You painted this as soon as you got back from Hong Kong?"

"Hai," she quietly answered as he gazed upon the beautiful canvas in his host's private studio, located on the second floor of the old mansion she inherited from Hino Shinnosuke on his death two years ago. "I couldn't put the image of you weeping at the death of that man you killed on the Peak out of my mind. I had to put it down on canvas…" A wry smile then crossed her face. "Even if I could never display it to anyone." She then sat down in a nearby chair. "Then again, that is somewhat befitting…"

The potter-turned-assassin tensed as he felt the terrible _**finality**_ in those words. Taking a deep breath, he gazed on the beautiful woman he once believed he had to kill…but now was finding himself incredibly attracted to. And no, that wasn't just because she had accepted him without any sort of question or objection. "Emu-san…"

"You don't want to kill me," she whispered.

He took a deep breath before nodding. "Hai."

"Why?"

He blinked before he moved to sit at the work desk where her computer was. "You've fascinated me since we met in Hong Kong," he confessed as he gazed on her. "Other people in your position — having witnessed someone like myself kill someone, then being introduced to such a killer as a warning that she was next on the target list — would run to the police for protection, try to find some way to stay alive. Yet you…!"

"I practically invited you to come kill me," she finished for him.

"Hai." He gazed intently on her. "Why?"

Emu hummed. "How much do you know of my adopted people?"

Yō blinked. Given those words, that confirmed one thing about the artist: She was what was now called a "Terran-turned Avalonian," a woman born on Earth but transformed into a bioroid sometime ago. A young friend of his old middle school classmate Hōjō Akira, Sakura Yūka, was one such person. Those elements of the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì who monitored events in the magical enclaves across Earth now suspected that Rose Potter, the sister to the legendary Boy-Who-Lived himself, was another Terran-turned Avalonian thanks to the Curse of Hufflepuff that had saved the unborn soul of Lily Potter's daughter, who should have died while still in her mother's womb when Voldemort struck her down in 1981. "Your people are gifted with touch-telepathy and empathic senses, plus this inner eye that can perceive the power of the Kami — the 'Te'a,' it's called — in all things. You're also blessed with a lifespan potential that can, on average, reach eight hundred years; normal-born Avalonians grow like Terrans do until reaching eighteen years of age, then the ageing process slows down to make someone grow one year physically every twelve years chronologically.

"You're genetically descent from a dead race on the planet Sagussa, located 33,000 light-years from Earth; it is the third of a seven-world system that orbits a binary pair of stars named Sen'a and Eisen'a respectively. Fourteen thousand years ago, the events that — in part — saw the bioroid factory created and placed on Phentax Twelve came to a head finally, unleashing the War of Clone Rights which effectively destroyed that race over a period of 514 years. The scant few survivors adopted a Vulcan-like code of emotional control as they struggled to rebuild Sagussa, but eventually failed and allowed themselves to vanish from history. They did, however, prompt the launching of the 'Grand Design of the Fifth Republic of Sagussa,' where a ship called the Gatherer would travel from planet to planet, obtaining genetic samples of the best female stock from over twenty planets — Earth and Neptune included — to create a small group of women ranging in age between fourteen and twenty-five years in Terran terms to act as _daishi'cha_, the first generation of mothers for a new race that will arise once compatible _daimon'cha_ are found to serve as genetic fathers. Once they were all born, the _daishi'cha_ were held in cryogenic suspension in an underground complex called the Chamber of Eternity, located near the site of old Tere'na City.

"Because of their Non-Interference Directive — which forbade direct interference in the development of other cultures, similar to the concept of the Prime Directive from _Star Trek_ — those _daishi'cha_ who were alive at the time Ganzo dai-Louc and his friends discovered the bioroid factory on Phentax Twelve a century ago elected as a whole to NOT retrieve the factory from that planet even if it risked giving the Niphentaxians the means to access Sagussa directly thanks to the trans-warp technology that was contained inside the physical structure itself. I personally believe that was a wrong decision to make. So do Moroboshi Hiromi and her siblings, of course. Fortunately, thanks to what Ki Tsukihana and Hakaru Ayami discovered two years ago in the Den'sha system, your people have the means to go back to Sagussa if they decide to do so once ships capable of passing through the Galactic Barrier are constructed. Atop that, given the understandable anger you all feel towards the _daishi'cha_ — in effect, your genetic cousins — for 'abandoning' you like that, any move they make to seize the _Zhèng Hé_ and her sisterships to ensure no exposure of Sagussan technology to Terrans will cost them quite dearly. If they chose to make it, of course," he added with a smile.

Emu laughed as she applauded him. "You're really well-informed, Yō-san!"

He chuckled. "As you probably now know, the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì and the Tenchiaiki Jūkazoku possess friendly relations with each other. Those relations have existed between our clans since the time the Immortal Master — in essence, Negako-sama's father — saved the original 108 Dragons from the Temple in 1641," he stated. "Yes, we do things that normal people would not approve of, even members of the Jūkazoku…of which the Moroboshi Clan of Mutsu are the last surviving members." At her nod, he added, "But since the Jūkazoku are the 'Angels of the Night' — who, over the last twelve centuries, have been dedicated to help those who have been abandoned by society at large for whatever reason as a way of preserving harmony and peace — who directly serve the Heavenly Sovereign, whatever disapproval they might express is mollified by their greater duty to the nation. Atop that, they have acted in the past to help protect those we too have always protected." He then smirked. "As a matter of fact, that's why I'm here in Japan now."

She perked. "Not because of me?"

"Partially, yes," he admitted. "But the main reason is that I have to kill the head of the Hakushin-kai in Ōsaka. His people have been kidnapping children of ethnic Chinese couples here in Japan for the last year or so." As a shocked and outraged gasp escaped her, he tried not to smile. _That's it, Emu-san! Live!_ he mentally urged — grateful that Taeko had agreed to use her magic to mask his inner mind from Emu's empathy before he came inside — as he added, "The police refused to do anything about it, so the leader of the Chinese community in Kōbe asked for our help. Hopefully, the under-bosses in Ōsaka will get the message."

She blinked as she took a moment to consider that before she shuddered…and then her eyes teared. "You want me to live, don't you?" she whimpered.

"Hai," he said with a nod. "It's a broken or unanswered _marei'cha_ bond, isn't it?"

That made Emu gasp. "How…?!"

Yō smiled as he gave her a sympathetic look. "Your diary, Emu-san." The painter had allowed the potter-turned-assassin a chance to read her diary entries since they had met in Hong Kong. "You always sign your entries with the phrase 'I miss you, Yuriko.' Was she a classmate of yours at Geidai?"

She blinked before tears streaked down her cheeks. "No…!" Taking a deep breath, she wiped her eyes clear. "Takeshima Yuriko was the Earth alias of the only person assigned to the Ueno observation post…which, no doubt, became listed as one of the 'Lost Posts' in recent years." She stared at him, trying not to laugh on seeing the stunned horror cross his face. "By Niphentaxian law, Yō-san, she was my owner and mistress."

He blinked several times as he stared wide-eyed at her. "How…?"

She sniffed. "She was my father's mistress before he died. She saved my life a year before he passed away after someone tried to rape me, then stabbed me when I resisted him." As he tensed on hearing that, Emu smiled. "She didn't do it because she was one of Ganzo-ojiisan's secret supporters. She was driven solely by her love for Otō-san and didn't want him to grieve over his daughter like he grieved over his wife years ago." She then sighed. "But the man who tried to kill me got away…and then, once he found out I 'miraculously' survived his murder attempt — fearful that I would report same to the police, of course — tried to do it again after Otō-san died. He was confident enough that without Otō-san's protection thanks to his being so high up in the National Diet, Yuriko and I would be sitting ducks." As Yō nodded, Emu then smirked. "But he didn't count on her being one-quarter Vosian; they're a lot tougher than Niphentaxians. When he caught her outside the house ten months ago, he got her in the heart…but she was able to stagger inside. When he chased her into the house, she had got hold of a disruptor pistol. One kill shot later…and he was gone."

She sniffed. "I was upstairs then. I came down when I heard the pistol shot; over the years, Yuriko had sound-proofed the mansion — disguising it as helping Otō-san renovate the place to make sure it stayed within building codes — to help mask her turning this place into a new base of operations in case her friends from Phentax Two eventually came looking for her. I rushed to her side immediately and held her in my arms as her life drained out of her…" — her tears were flowing freely at this time — "…and just before she died, she told me…that she wished that she wasn't part-Vosian. Then she could have felt it right to engage in an intimate relationship with me. Her mother and grandmother back home were very strict in raising her in the ways of Vos, which demand that whenever recognition — that's their version of a _marei'cha_ bond — happens, what it forces her to decide MUST be adhered to. As they say it there, 'recognition does not lie.'" Emu gazed up at Yō. "Yuriko recognized Otō-san as her perfect mate…so she couldn't be MY mate even if the drive to make her my bond-mate activated right after I woke up in her old home."

He winced. "Emu-san…!"

"That's why I want to die, Yō-san," she moaned out as he moved to embrace her. "I want to be with Yuriko-vayae! Otō-san always loved Okā-san; he never realized what made Yuriko love him…so she must be so lonely in Heaven now…!"

Her voice dissolved into sobs as he held her close…

* * *

Nearby…

"Lady Taeko…?!"

A silently-weeping Taeko shook her head as she waved off Fūnglīng's helpful hand while both Dākyùhn and Ngàhsin gazed with concern at her…

* * *

Inside the north wall of the Hino home…

_Much that I am definitely benefiting from this, Freeman's friends are getting sloppy!_

Trying not to smirk too much after she had used the back alley to get as close as possible to the Hino property before flipping herself over the wall, a blonde American with blue-grey eyes relaxed herself as she allowed her own empathic senses to reach out and scan into the large Western-style mansion that was the home of the woman Crying Freeman currently targeted for death. While she didn't know why this girl had earned the ire of one of the most deadly assassins alive today, the woman calling herself "Nina Heaven" didn't let that distract her. Ever since that day four years ago when she — having undergone her own body-swap months before thanks to an alien-born admirer of her late father, Colonel Mark Halstrom, after he and his daughter Nina been targeted by the Kidnappers Organization because the then-commanding officer of the 1st Special Forces Group at Fort Lewis in Washington simply refused to allow those of his subordinates who wanted to earn a little cash on the side release high-tech weapons to Larry Park's group; Mark himself would die in the same attack that nearly killed Nina — witnessed an act of deadly ballet outside the front doors of a hotel in Hong Kong…and felt the overwhelming bonding drive inside her new Avalonian body activate on realizing she had found the person she knew she would spend the rest of her life with, she had been determined to find some way for Freeman to notice her without killing her.

Ever since that first encounter in Hong Kong, the freelance photographer — who, in the hierarchy of K.O., served as the personal assistant to Larry "Hārītī" Park himself — doggedly followed the trail of blood Crying Freeman left behind wherever he travelled. Aided by her telepathy and empathy — not to mention the intelligence network K.O. had built up over the years — Nina had been there on dozens of occasions, snapping photograph after photograph of the man every time he made a kill. While the others serving under the retired Green Beret officer and Vietnam veteran believed Nina was helping them track Freeman down so that they could eventually subvert the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì under the control of K.O., Mark Halstrom's daughter was determined to get the Chinese group's help to gut Larry Park's organization from the inside out and avenge the deaths of many honourable soldiers that had refused to give in to greed and allow Park's people to steal weapons from their home nations to help make their "country of warriors." With a little telepathic prodding — not to mention a generous show of her bountiful assets; fortunately for her self-respect, Nina was still a virgin in her new body — to the right people, all the way to Park himself, she had got in with ease…

…and now that she was free of that damned loyalty lock in her DNA…!

«Nina?»

Nina perked. «When the hell did _**you**_ get in country, Denise?!»

«_De'ne_!» Denise O'Connor teased through the subtle psionic bond both women shared. The Elder Mother of the Avalonians of Portland, she was the adopted daughter of the man who had saved Nina Halstrom and allowed her to become Nina Heaven. Donald O'Connor — born Dailtz bedai-Oransh — had been a passionate student of American military history and a fifth-generation observer of life on Earth, following in the traditions of people who had reported on events in that country since the Civil War. A man who — like the late Steven Holmes had become while living in Britain — effectively saw himself more as Terran-American than Niphentaxian, Donald had always treated his adopted daughter and the other Avalonians under his charge with proper humanity even if he wasn't a passionate supporter of Ganzo dai-Louc; Nina personally hoped that he would be acquitted of whatever charges might be laid against him in Star Chamber on Tengsei and allowed to go live his life somewhere in the Noukiite Outmarches. «As soon as your friends got wind that Freeman was in Japan, you took the first flight out of Los Angeles. At least I was able to travel a little faster.»

Nina tried not to laugh at that unspoken admission. «Materialiser?»

«Safest way to travel covertly.»

«Pity I can't be _that_ covert,» Nina replied as she quietly approached the large house, moving with both speed and stealth as her "friends" in K.O. had taught her over the last couple years. «I already have enough problems with idiots wanting to get into my panties all the time when I'm with Park and his merry band of traitors.» She tried not to spit out that last word as she moved to gaze through one of the basement windows, looking for a place to sneak inside. «I…_**HOLY SHIT!**_» she mentally cried out on seeing what was in one room.

«WHAT?!» Denise screamed back.

Nina gaped as she looked at something she honestly didn't suspect she'd run into when she came to Japan. «Oh, my God!» she croaked out as her eyes danced over the many gestation chambers inside what appeared to be a large storage room. «Denise, I think I just ran into one of the Lost Posts!» she then reported, which made the other woman gasp in surprise. «I can see a full complement of non-templated bodies in…wait!»

«What?!»

«Got a finished one,» Nina said. «Can you see her through me?»

A hum echoed in her mind as she felt Denise's soul reach into hers. A moment later, the sound of someone sucking in air echoed in Nina's mind. «That's Iyanba sudai-Parhans!» the Elder Mother of the Portland Avalonians reported. «Or at least a clone replica of hers styled as a Terran-form. She was a lone observer based somewhere in Tōkyō, but I don't know exactly where. She and Father were classmates in observer school back on Phentax Two. Let me see if she was caught. Just a second…»

Nina relaxed herself as she waited for the other woman to respond; no doubt, Denise had come with a dataPADD. A moment later, the other woman announced, «She's not on the list of prisoners the Noukiites passed on to all of us. No doubt, she's either dead…or decided to transform herself into an Avalonian to escape capture.»

«Which means I have to go in to ask her…if she's programmed,» Nina finished.

«Sorry.»

A sigh escaped the photographer. «Never mind,» Nina mused as she felt around the window frame. A second later, she grinned on feeling the hidden hatch to the special security system that prevented any unauthorized access to an observation post's equipment room, which is where non-templated Avalonians were stored until they were needed. Keying in the standard override code to allow emergency access, Nina smirked as the window unlocked, then she gently opened it to slip inside…

* * *

Upstairs…

Emu gasped on hearing a gentle buzz echo through her studio. "What's that?!" Yō asked.

"Intruder alarm," she reported as she moved to the computer, tapping controls on the keyboard to get the machine to link into something its original builders probably couldn't imagine it doing. "Someone's breaking into the basement of the house! That's where Yuriko-vayae is!" As he gaped at her, the artist blushed. "I made a clone replica of her. She left behind a meson crystal that has either a soul fragment or a copy of her soul inside it. I _**dared**_ not program it into a replacement body because it would have enslaved her to the DNA loyalty locks. But after I met you…"

He nodded in grim understanding. "You didn't want to risk her life because you knew I was coming for you."

"Hai!" she said with a nod before she gave him a hopeful look. "No matter what, Yō-san, promise me you'll let her live."

"You have my oath," he vowed.

"Arigatō," she said as she flashed him a beautiful smile before a window appeared on her screen. "Eh?!" she uttered before blinking. "'Standard emergency override code?!'" she read.

"What does that mean?"

"It means whoever is visiting is most likely an Avalonian," she reported as she did a bio-scan of the intruder in the storage room. "So let's see…"

* * *

As Emu got to work determining what was going on, a car slowly slid towards the caravan that was parked near the front entrance of the Hino home…

…just as another car came to a stop near the end of the street.

Both vehicles were instantly spotted by Wòhng Dākyùhn, Baahk Ngàhsin and Fú Fūnglīng. As they watched, the doors of the first vehicle were opened to reveal four people, all bearing the obvious marks of Mediterranean ancestry. On seeing them, Ngàhsin hissed in outrage. "«What is it?»" Fūnglīng asked in Cantonese as she gazed upon her granddaughter.

"«They're Camorra, Grandmother!»" Ngàhsin snarled as the four men casually walked towards them. "«They were there when their local leader approached me to try to convince me to challenge Grandfather for the leadership of the Society!»"

"«There's someone inside us who knows Freeman's here!»" Dākyùhn hissed as he moved to draw out his pistol and chamber a round. "«They've been after him since the start!»"

"«Wait. There's no need to panic.»"

The visitors from Hong Kong gazed on their current companion. "«What is it, Lady Taeko?»" Fūnglīng asked, surprised that this nominal native of Korea could speak the language of south China fluently…before she mentally kicked herself on realizing that languages would be nothing to a being like Urashima Keitarō's adopted sister.

"«It appears that a friend of your grandson has come to visit us today as well, Elder Lady Tiger,»" Taeko said as she crossed her arms. "«I doubt our friends from Campania would care to find themselves caught between the Dragon Sun and one of the Maidens of Death.»"

"«Mother Tiger! Look!»"

On hearing Dākyùhn's shout, Fūnglīng looked over…

…before her dark eyes went wide with shocked recognition on seeing the blonde woman with the eyes of gunmetal blue-grey step out of the other car.

"**_Noir…!_**"

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**WRITER'S NOTES**

1) **Taichi Akiko** is a minor _Love Hina_ anime character; she first appeared in the second episode, "The Hinata-sō's New Resident, Shinobu: Arrow Signs."

2) The term **inferius** is the singular version of **inferi**, which were first hinted at by Lord Voldemort in _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_ and made their first appearance in _Half-Blood Prince_. For those who don't remember, they were the reanimated corpses that guarded the cave where the Dark Lord had hidden the Locket of Slytherin that was later stolen by **Regulus Black** in hopes of rendering Voldemort mortal once the horcrux contained within was destroyed.

3) Translations: **Kōchō-sensei** — Title for the principal, headmaster or headmistress of a school; **Sorim-sa** — Korean way of saying the Mandarin "**Shàolín-sì**" (Shàolín Temple); **Daishi'cha** — Literally "great birth mother"; **Daimon'cha** — Literally "great birth father."

4) To explain Taeko's thoughts when she first senses Nina Heaven (_née_ Nina Halstrom): The **Chinese Zodiac** — properly named the **Shēngxiào** (literally meaning "resemblance at birth") — is, like its Western counterpart, a repeating cycle of twelve consecutive terms used in astrology that helps people determine a certain set of attributes that would be bestowed on people who are born within one of the denoted periods in question. Unlike the Western zodiac — which is based on twelve constellations in the sky that the Sun (as perceived from Earth) passes before in the period of a calendar year; this would ensure each period in the zodiac is roughly a month in length anchored on the summer and winter solstices and the spring and autumn equinoxes — the Shēngxiào has each of its twelve periods extend for a YEAR in length, anchored on the Lunar New Year. Each of the twelve years in the Shēngxiào are marked with animal names (listed in order): Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. Each of these terms have equivalents that form the "earthly branch" element of the names in the Sexagenary Cycle (as introduced in the writer's notes for Part Sixteen).

As people may know, the lunar year that started on 10 February 2013 is the **Year of the Snake**.

5) The concept of **Recognition** was borrowed by Mike Smith for use concerning Vosians in _The Senior Year_ from the _Elfquest_ series of stories written by **Wendy Pini** (born 1951) and her husband **Richard Pini** (born 1950), which first appeared in 1978. The Vosian version of recognition is a telekinetic-based power that locks in on ONE compatible life-mate which would allow the resultant couple to parent genetically strong children. Unlike _marei'cha_, recognition is normally bestowed on a person of the opposite sex; homosexuality does exist amongst Vosians, but there is no bisexuality.

6) **1st Special Forces Group** (**1 SFG**) is the oldest Green Beret unit in the United States Army. First established in Japan in 1957, this unit has seen action in Vietnam and in the War on Terror in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Philippines. The unit was deactivated in 1974 and reactivated ten years later. Currently based at **Joint Base Lewis-McChord** (formed in 2010 from the administrative merger of **Fort Lewis** and **McChord Air Force Base**) fifteen kilometres south-southwest of Tacoma in Washington, 1 SFG is divided into four battalions, one of which is based at **Torii Station** on Okinawa twenty kilometres north-northeast of Naha. 1 SFG is currently assigned to operate in the area of responsibility for United States Pacific Command (see the notes in Part Six).

7) **Camorra** is a real-life Mafia-like organization. Traditionally based in the **Campania** region of Italy in and around the city of Naples, the origins of this group are not entirely clear; according to some stories, the Camorristi trace their ancestry back to the Sixteenth Century as a direct descendant of the Spanish **Garduña** formed in 1417. Regardless of which, Camorra engage in very much the same type of activities that their counterparts on Sicily do. The only real difference between the Mafiosi and the Camorristi is that the latter group is not as hierarchical as the former; individual Camorra clans act independently of each other, and are more prone to feuding among themselves. This, however, makes the Camorra more resilient when top leaders are arrested or killed; new clans and organizations almost automatically germinate out of the wreckage of old groups.

In _Crying Freeman_, the Camorristi were prominent opponents for the first several story arcs; as indicated by Ngàhsin above, the Italian group backed her move to seize control of the Baakbaatlùhng-kuì as a way of subverting their Chinese rivals to their own group. Unfortunately, the Camorristi in the universe of this story have more rivals to deal with…as note the person recognized by Fūnglīng at the end of this part…


End file.
